Global Courant
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Secret Service is investigating a “small amount” of a “white, powdery substance” discovered Sunday in a “working area in the West Wing,” a Secret Service official said.
The substance – which tested positive for cocaine during a field test, according to a radio broadcast from the Washington, D.C. Fire Department — led to a brief evacuation at the White House on Sunday night.
The Secret Service is testing the substance, which they determined was “not dangerous,” and said in a statement they are investigating the matter.
Secret Service police outside the White House on July 4, 2023.Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
“Sunday night, the White House complex closed as a precaution as Secret Service Uniformed Division officers examined an unknown item found in a work area,” said Anthony Guglielmi, a Secret Service spokesman. called to evaluate and quickly determined the item was not dangerous. The item has been sent for further evaluation and an investigation into its cause and manner of entering the White House is pending.”
President Joe Biden was not in the White House at the time the substance was discovered; he left for Camp David on Friday and returned to Washington on Tuesday morning.
The White House declined to comment.
