![](https://static.independent.co.uk/2023/07/05/19/Karine-SITE.jpg?width=1200&auto=webp)
Karine Jean-Pierre held a news briefing shortly after the white powder that was found in the White House has been identified.
The white, powdery substance that prompted a brief evacuation of the White House over the weekend has been confirmed to be cocaine by laboratory testing, The Independent has learned.
A spokesperson for the US Secret Service, which by law is responsible for security in and around the 18-acre White House campus, confirmed the laboratory result in an email on Wednesday.
The spokesperson, Anthony Gugliemi, previously said the agency was standing up “an investigation into the cause and manner” of how the cocaine came to be in a public waiting area in the West Wing, where it was discovered late Sunday by officers with the Secret Service Uniformed Division.