Cocaine at White House Sparks Confusion Over Who Had Access to Location

Story by James Bickerton • 7h ago

Stock photo showing an American flag flies over the south facade of the White House in Washington, D.C., taken in 2018. A white substance, identified as cocaine, was discovered in the White House on Sunday.© Robert Alexander/GETTY

Authorities are investigating after a small quantity of white powder, identified as cocaine, was found in the White House on Sunday.
Parts of the White House complex were briefly evacuated at around 8:45 p.m., as emergency workers rushed to identify the mystery substance and determine whether it could be dangerous. After it was preliminarily identified as cocaine the White House was fully reopened, with the powder dispatched for further testing.

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Cocaine at White House Sparks Confusion Over Who Had Access to Location
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The discovery sparked a wave of mockery online, with some social media users targeting Hunter Biden who discussed having a crack cocaine addiction in his 2021 memoir Beautiful Things. No evidence has been produced to suggest the substance found on Sunday had anything to do with Hunter Biden.

The exact location where the substance was discovered hasn't been officially confirmed with Anthony Guglielmi, a Secret Service spokesman, telling the New York Times it was found in a "work area of the West Wing," and not in the White House library as was earlier reported.
Referencing a "senior law enforcement official," CBS News reported the powder was discovered "in a storage facility in a cubby routinely used by White House staff and guests to store cell phones."
The Associated Press said the substance was found "in a common area of the West Wing" with the location "accessible to tour groups," according to two law enforcement officials.

Authorities have yet to officially confirm exactly where in the White House complex the powder was located, nor what level of access the public would have had to this location. Newsweek has contacted the White House press office by email requesting clarification on both these points.
According to the official White House website tours of the complex, which can be booked through a member of Congress, are "self-guided and last approximately 45 minutes."
The New York Times reported the powder was discovered on Sunday at around 6 p.m., by a uniformed secret service agent who was on patrol.
Dispatches from the fire crew that responded, logged on the website openmhz.com, said preliminary field results concluded the substance was cocaine.
In the dispatch a firefighter can be heard saying: "We have a yellow bar saying cocaine hydrochloride."
Guglielmi said: "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 president was away at Camp David with Dr Jill Biden, and other members of their family, when the discovery occurred. He returned to the White House on Tuesday for the Fourth of July celebrations.
Biden has announced he is seeking a second term in the White House, with an Echelon Insights survey of 472 likely Democrat voters revealing 60 percent would either "definitely" or "likely" back him in the party's presidential primary.

Cocaine at White House Sparks Confusion Over Who Had Access to Location (msn.com)