A small amount of a white powdery substance was found in the White House Sunday night, according to a person familiar with the incident, and an initial test by emergency workers determined it was cocaine.
President Biden and his family were at Camp David when a uniformed Secret Service agent found the substance during a West Wing patrol at around 6 p.m. Sunday, the person said, prompting a brief shutdown of some members of the White House campus as response officers. assessed whether the substance was dangerous.
Later that evening, a test of the substance by hazmat crew officials returned a result: « We have a yellow bar that says cocaine hydrochloride, » an official said on a dispatch sent at 20:49. and recorded by a website that collects agency radio communications.
A person with knowledge of the investigation, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an open inquiry, said the radio cable discussing the drug test was placed between the District Fire Department’s Hazmat Team of Columbia and other officials within the department.
Anthony Guglielmi, a Secret Service spokesman, said the substance had been found in a « West Wing work area » and that another cable saying the substance had been found in a White House library was incorrect.
In a statement, Mr. Guglielmi said the « object has been sent for further evaluation and an investigation into its cause and how it got into the White House is underway. »
He neither confirmed nor disputed the initial conclusion that the powder was cocaine.
Vito Maggiolo, a spokesman for the District of Columbia Fire Department, declined to confirm the contents of any of the cables, but said department officials « have been asked to assist the Secret Service as they conduct an investigation. »
On Tuesday morning, Biden returned to the White House with several of his family members.
