Secret Service investigating after cocaine found in White House
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
The Secret Service is investigating how a suspicious white powder later confirmed to be cocaine ended up in the White House on Sunday, "near where visitors taking tours of the West Wing are instructed to leave their cellphones," The Washington Post reported.
Secret Service agents were doing routine rounds when they discovered the powder in an "area accessible to tour groups, not in any particular West Wing office," according to NPR. The White House was then briefly evacuated.
President Biden was at Camp David at the time and did not return to D.C. until Tuesday morning.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Both a preliminary and final test of the powder indicated it was cocaine, per the Post. "The item was sent for further evaluation and an investigation into the cause and manner of how it entered the White House is pending," said Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
