The White House was temporarily closed on Sunday evening, July 2, following the discovery of a white powder in a West Wing workspace that Secret Service agents believed to be cocaine.
In an official statement, the Secret Service announced the necessity of the closure to facilitate their investigation. The District of Columbia Fire Department was called in to assist in evaluating the substance.
Upon initial assessment, a spokesperson for the Secret Service said that the fire department had determined the item to be non-hazardous.
At 8:49 pm, a dispatch call reported a field test conducted by the fire department and emergency medical services. The test identified the substance as a “yellow bar,” indicative of cocaine hydrochloride, as recorded in an encrypted call.
Earlier in the evening, emergency crews had been dispatched to 17th Street, which is adjacent to the White House. However, neither call explicitly mentioned the White House.
Typically, the public is restricted to touring the East Wing of the White House, while access to the West Wing is reserved for the President, Vice President, and other senior officials.
The Secret Service confirmed that further testing of the substance would be conducted.
“The item has been sent for further evaluation, and an investigation into how it entered the White House is currently underway,” said Anthony Guglielmi, the Chief of Communications for the Secret Service.
President Joe Biden and his family were not at the White House when the substance was discovered. Biden had departed for Camp David on the evening of Friday, June 30, and returned on the morning of Tuesday, July 5.
Guglielmi described the White House complex’s closure as a precautionary measure taken while the substance was under investigation.