The White House was briefly evacuated Sunday night while President Joe Biden was at Camp David after the Secret Service discovered suspicious powder in a common area of the West Wing. A preliminary test found the substance to be cocaine, two police officers said Tuesday.
Secret Service officials were making routine rounds on Sunday when they found the white powder in an area accessible to tour groups rather than a specific office in the west wing, officials said. Officials were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
The complex was evacuated around 8:45 p.m. Sunday when firefighters and rescue workers were brought in for a rapid test that tentatively found cocaine. The White House reopened soon after and the powder was sent for further examination.
Biden and his family departed for Camp David on Friday and returned to the White House on Tuesday.
The Secret Service said in a statement that the White House was under precautionary lockdown while emergency responders conducted the investigation and that District of Columbia firefighters were called in to test and determine the substance was safe.
“The item has been sent for further investigation and an investigation into the cause and manner of getting into the White House is pending,” the Secret Service said.
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