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By Melissa Noel ·Updated July 6, 2023
A powdery substance found by Secret Service at the White House on Sunday has been confirmed to be cocaine following lab testing, CBS News reports.
The substance was reportedly found near the West Wing’s ground floor entrance. The Oval Office is housed here, as are the offices of some of the president’s top aides and support staff. According to CNN, it is also where visitors taking staff-led tours are directed to leave their phones before heading into The West Wing.
Following the discovery of the drug, the White House was briefly shut down. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday that the cocaine was found in a “heavily traveled area” of the West Wing, where both guests and workers pass through.
According to Jean-Pierre, President Joe Biden has been briefed on the situation and “everything we know so far,” and the Secret Service has launched an investigation. “We have confidence that they will get to the bottom of this,” she said, adding that the building was recently open for tours on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and that she would not speculate on who the culprit was.
Additional testing on the bag containing the substance will include DNA and fingerprint analysis, CNN reports. The Secret Service is reportedly combing through visitor logs, security footage, and bag analysis to further their investigation.
President Biden was not at The White House over the weekend. He was away at Camp David and returned to the White House on Tuesday morning.
TOPICS: biden white house
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