Subsequent testing confirmed that a powdery substance discovered by the Secret Service at the White House on Sunday was cocaine, a law enforcement official said Wednesday, as questions linger about how the drug got into the building.The discovery of the substance caused a brief shutdown of the White House after it was found by Secret Service officers in a common storage area on the ground floor of the West Wing, which houses the Oval Office and offices of some of the president’s top aides and support staff. It was found in a zip-close bag near an entrance where visitors taking tours are directed to leave their phones, the official said.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Biden has been briefed on the incident and noted the area where the cocaine was discovered is “heavily traveled” by visitors.
“When it comes to visitors to the West Wing, they come for many reasons, obviously we do have West Wing tours that occur here on campus,” she said, adding tours took place Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The Secret Service is not ruling out any White House personnel, guests or visitors. At this point, one leading theory is that the bag was brought in by an individual on a White House tour of the West Wing, according to senior law enforcement officials briefed on the matter.
The Secret Service is leading a full review of how the substance got into the West Wing, law enforcement officials said, including examining cameras and entrance logs to determine who had access to the space. Officials caution this will be a challenging investigation, and while there are some cameras in the West Wing, it’s unclear if anyone was captured on those cameras with the bag of cocaine.
White House staffers frequently give guests tours of the West Wing, often at night and over the weekend. Guests must pass through security before entering the White House complex and then are asked to leave phones in small cubbies.
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Article URL : https://www.cbsnews.com/news/white-house-cocaine-west-wing-secret-service-investigation/