A formal laboratory test of a white powder found in a “highly trafficked” area of the White House has been confirmed as cocaine, NBC News reported on Wednesday, citing an unnamed official with knowledge of the investigation.
A Secret Service review of visitor logs and surveillance cameras will seek to determine how the cocaine, described as being in a small, zippered bag, came to be in the executive mansion.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Wednesday that public tours of the West Wing had taken place over the weekend but deferred to the Secret Service for details about the investigation. “We have confidence that they will get to the bottom of this,” Jean-Pierre said.
On Sunday, the discovery prompted an evacuation of the White House. A preliminary field test by the DC fire department indicated the substance was cocaine.
“We have a yellow bar saying cocaine hydrochloride,” a radio dispatch from the White House said.
Initial reports said the cocaine was found in a reference library, but later reports said it was in “a work area” of the West Wing, which is attached to the mansion that houses the president and his family, the Oval Office, the cabinet room, the press briefing room and offices for staff.
CBS News, citing law enforcement sources, reported that the cocaine was found in a facility used by White House staff and guests to store phones. The Secret Service indicated it was found by officers during “routine patrols”.
The number of people who use the area could make it difficult to determine who was responsible for the substance, NBC said. By Wednesday afternoon, no one had claimed responsibility.
The discovery of the drug prompted widespread speculation. Joe Biden and his family were not in residence at the time.
The first family, including the president’s son Hunter Biden, who described his battle with addiction in a recent autobiography, returned to the residence on Tuesday.
Rightwing commentators sprang into action, insinuating that Hunter Biden was likely linked to the cocaine find. That prompted Chris Jackson, a Tennessee election commissioner and longtime Democratic operative, to say on Twitter he hoped Biden “sues the hell out of everyone suggesting this”.
