Share
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
WASHINGTON — The White House was briefly evacuated Sunday evening while President Joe Biden was at Camp David after the Secret Service discovered suspicious powder in a common area of the West Wing, and a preliminary test showed the substance was cocaine, two law enforcement officials said Tuesday.
Secret Service agents were doing routine rounds on Sunday when they found the white powder in an area accessible to tour groups, not in any particular West Wing office, the officials said. The officials were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The complex was evacuated at about 8:45 p.m. Sunday as fire and emergency crews were brought in to do a rapid test, which preliminarily identified cocaine. The White House was soon reopened and the powder was sent for further testing.
Biden and his family left for Camp David on Friday and returned to the White House on Tuesday.
The Secret Service said in a statement the White House was closed as a precaution as emergency crews investigated, and that the District of Columbia fire department was called in to evaluate and determine that the substance was not hazardous.
“The item was sent for further evaluation and an investigation into the cause and manner of how it entered the White House is pending,” the Secret Service said.
RELATED TOPICS:
Two Teens Charged in Shooting Death of Caleb Quick
15 hours ago
Soviet-Era Spacecraft Plunges to Earth After 53 Years Stuck in Orbit
15 hours ago
Tax the Rich? Slash Spending? Republicans Wrestle With Economic Priorities in the Trump Era
16 hours ago
Experts Call Kennedy’s Plan to find Autism’s Cause Unrealistic
16 hours ago
Trump’s Trip to Saudi Arabia Raises the Prospect of US Nuclear Cooperation With the Kingdom
16 hours ago
Oh Ohtani! Dodgers Star Hits 3-Run Homer in Late Rally Victory Over Diamondbacks
16 hours ago
Tariff Talks Begin Between US and Chinese Officials in Geneva
16 hours ago
US-China Tariff Talks to Continue Sunday, an Official Tells The Associated Press
9 hours ago
Categories

US-China Tariff Talks to Continue Sunday, an Official Tells The Associated Press

Two Teens Charged in Shooting Death of Caleb Quick

Soviet-Era Spacecraft Plunges to Earth After 53 Years Stuck in Orbit

Tax the Rich? Slash Spending? Republicans Wrestle With Economic Priorities in the Trump Era
