The White House Library had to be evacuated temporarily on Sun., Jul. 2, following the discovery of a white powder, which preliminary tests suggest to be cocaine, according to two officials familiar with the matter and a recording of a dispatch from a D.C. fire crew that responded to the incident.
The White House Library serves White House staff, including the President, staff, and members of the Executive Office of the President. It is also a working library, providing research resources and information regarding the President’s duties and responsibilities. Authorized researchers, scholars, and historians may also be granted access to the library through arrangements made with the White House Historical Association or the National Archives and Records Administration.
Meanwhile, a Secret Service source is contradicting the official narrative, saying the drugs were located in the West Wing.
Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the Secret Service, stated that the substance found is undergoing further testing to determine its exact nature, and authorities are actively investigating how it entered the White House. Guglielmi confirmed that the D.C. fire department determined the substance did not pose a threat.
The discovery triggered a security alert and a temporary evacuation of the executive mansion, as per Guglielmi. President Joe Biden was not present in the White House at the time of the incident.
Guglielmi said that there is an ongoing investigation into the cause and manner of how the substance made its way into the White House. He declined to disclose the location within the library, adding that members of the Uniformed Division of the Secret Service discovered it during routine rounds through the building.
According to a dispatch recording timestamped 8:49 p.m., a firefighter from the D.C. fire department’s hazardous materials team stated, “We have a yellow bar saying cocaine hydrochloride.”
The recording, heard on openmhz.com, is a website that allows users to listen to live and archived radio transmissions from police and fire departments.
Vito Maggiolo, a spokesman for the D.C. fire department, acknowledged that the agency offered support to the U.S. Secret Service during their investigation but did not provide further details.
It is important to note that the incident coincided with First son Hunter Biden’s presence on the White House grounds on Friday before he departed with his father for Camp David over the holiday weekend. Biden has previously acknowledged struggling with addiction, specifically to crack cocaine, and even discharged from the U.S. Navy after failing a drug test that detected cocaine usage.
The Old Blog in the Desert 