Substance in White House tests positive for cocaine

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The Secret Service is investigating a “small amount” of a “white, powdery substance” discovered in a work area in the West Wing on Sunday, a Secret Service official said.

The substance — which tested positive for cocaine on a preliminary field test, according to a source familiar with the investigation — led to a brief evacuation inside the White House on Sunday night. The source added the substance was found in a small, dime-sized bag.

The Secret Service is testing the substance, which they determined was "non-hazardous," and said in a statement they are investigating the matter.

President Joe Biden was not at the White House at the time the substance was discovered; he left for Camp David on Friday, returning to Washington on Tuesday morning.

A source familiar with the investigation said that the Secret Service will lead a full review, which will include consulting cameras and entrance logs to determine who had access to the space where the small plastic bag was found Sunday night.

While the investigation will try to determine who is responsible for the item, the source acknowledged that could be difficult given the number of people who transit the location and said it is unknown how long the bag had been there. The substance was found in a common space where employees and visitors can store phones and personal items that are not taken into other parts of the West Wing.

I was hoping it would be Biden's, just so he could be Joe Blow.

A formal lab test of the white substance found at the White House on Sunday has come back positive for cocaine, according to an official with knowledge of the investigation.

The substance was found Sunday evening in a small, zippered bag in a highly trafficked part of the West Wing and prompted a brief evacuation, according to a U.S. Secret Service official.

It is unclear how long the bag was in the White House. The blurry timeline and number of people who walk through the area where the cocaine was found could make it difficult to determine who was responsible for the substance, a source familiar with the investigation told NBC News on Tuesday.

The Secret Service is running the investigation, which will include consulting cameras and entrance logs, according to a source familiar with the inquiry.

When asked about the incident Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre emphasized that the investigation is under the Secret Service's purview and that she's "confident" they will get to the bottom of the situation.

The White House "is subject to rigorous guidelines that include drug testing and so we will take any action that is appropriate and warranted, pending the outcome of the Secret Service," Jean-Pierre told reporters, adding that she wouldn't "get into hypotheticals."

She said that President Joe Biden was briefed on the situation, though he and his family were at Camp David, not the White House, when the cocaine was discovered.

"The president thinks it's very important to get to the bottom of this," Jean-Pierre said in response to a question about how determined Biden is to uncover who brought drugs into the White House.

Multiple officials involved in the White House cocaine inquiry now say the bag of powder was found in a cubby near the White House's West Executive entrance, not the formal West Wing lobby, as was previously reported.

Investigators expect to be done with the investigation by Monday, said two sources familiar with the investigation. The inquiry had previously been expected to take a couple of weeks.

In updating where the cocaine was found, officials said that area was also heavily trafficked.

The cocaine was found in an entrance area between the foyer and a lower-level lobby, the sources said. The entrance is near where some vehicles, like the vice president’s limo or SUV, park. It is one floor below the main West Wing offices and on the same floor as the Situation Room and a dining area.

Forensic work on the cocaine bag continued Thursday, though officials are setting low expectations that they will be able to identify who left it.

Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to answer when she was asked at Wednesday's briefing which of the two West Wing entrances was involved, saying she would let the Secret Service address that.

The sources maintain that the area is highly trafficked, in keeping with Jean-Pierre's characterization Wednesday. The area is transited by VIPs, visitors, tourists, staff members, military officials and facilities operations employees.

Officers found the cocaine during a routine patrol, a Secret Service official said.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., sent a letter Wednesday asking Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle for more information about the investigation. Secret Service officials say they have received the letter and will respond

The Secret Service on Thursday announced it had closed its investigation into who left a small packet of cocaine in the White House without finding the culprit, and a spokesman for the agency told NBC News it did so without conducting interviews.

The agency, along with the FBI, tested the packet to determine it was cocaine and looked for any fingerprints or DNA evidence. But the tests yielded no usable forensic evidence. Video footage of the area where the baggie was found also provided no evidence to narrow the possible suspects beyond a list of roughly 500 staff members and visitors who passed through during a weekend earlier this month.

Secret Service spokesman Anthony Gugliemi said the agency determined that interviewing all 500 people could be a strain on resources, might infringe upon civil liberties and would likely be fruitless without corresponding physical evidence tying any person to the drugs.

“Yes, you could have a consensual interview,” he said, meaning the interviews would be voluntary. “But we have no evidence to approach them.”

Gugliemi said the small amount of cocaine, 208 milligrams or about .007 ounce, would only result in a misdemeanor charge in the District of Columbia and the agency determined that did not warrant the expenditure of resources it would take to interview 500 people.