The Secret Service evacuated the White House press briefing room Tuesday afternoon due to a telephoned bomb threat, hours after a Senate hearing was interrupted by a similar threat.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest was in the midst of his regular daily briefing with reporters shortly after 2 p.m. when a Secret Service agent interrupted, saying, “We need to evacuate the press briefing room.”
Journalists exited onto a driveway outside the West Wing of the complex, and were then led to the adjacent Eisenhower Executive Office Building, where they sheltered in place.
The Secret Service gave the “all clear” signal about 30 minutes later.
President Obama was in the White House but was not evacuated, Mr. Earnest said.
When Mr. Earnest resumed the briefing about 2:50 p.m., he said the evacuation was in response to a bomb threat phoned in to the Metropolitan Police Department, who alerted the Secret Service.
Agents searched the press briefing room and quickly determined it was safe to return. The rest of the West Wing also was not evacuated, Mr. Earnest said.
The incident came about two hours after U.S. Capitol Police forced the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and its panel of government witnesses to evacuate a hearing on Transportation Security Administration challenges due to a bomb threat.
Police ushered people out of the room on the third floor of the Dirksen Senate Office Building Tuesday a little after noon. Staffers received alerts from police indicating the evacuation was related to a suspicious package, and that they should avoid the area until further notice.
Congressional staff said that the threat was directed at the committee’s offices.
• Maggie Ybarra contributed to this report.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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