Secret Service investigating ‘white, powdery substance’ found in West Wing

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Secret Service is investigating a “small amount” of a “white, powdery substance” discovered in a “work area in the West Wing” on Sunday, a Secret Service official said.

The substance — which tested positive for cocaine on a field test, according to a radio dispatch from the Washington, D.C., fire department — led to a brief evacuation inside the White House Sunday night.

The Secret Service is testing the substance, which they determined was “non-hazardous,” and said in a statement they are investigating the matter.

“On Sunday evening, the White House complex went into a precautionary closure as officers from the Secret Service Uniformed Division investigated an unknown item found inside a work area,” said Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the Secret Service. “The DC Fire Department was called to evaluate and quickly determined the item to be non-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.”

President Joe Biden was not at the White House at the time the substance was discovered; he left for Camp David on Friday, returning to Washington on Tuesday morning.

The White House declined to comment.