White powder at Clinton office found non-toxic

(Harlem - WABC, October 27, 2006) (WABC) -- NYPD and Secret Service agents said the white powder found inside former President Bill Clinton's office on West 125th Street in Harlem has been deemed inert and non-toxic.

Late Friday night, several Clinton staffers were still being held inside the building as officials decide whether or not to decontaminate them.

Richard Staropoli, a Secret Service spokesman, said one of Clinton's staff members opened a package delivered to the office that contained a white powder and a letter and called officials around 3:45 Friday afternoon. Staropoli described the letter as a "rambling diatribe."

We are told that the former president was not at the office during the incident, but was at an event in Manhattan celebrating his three-day birthday bash -- a fundraising event for his foundation -- The William J. Clinton Foundation. His birthday, however, was in August.

Jay Carson, Clinton's spokesman, said the building at 55 West 125th Street had not been evacuated. Around 50 people in the building were detained to make sure any harmful substance would not spread.

Secret Service spokesman Eric Zahren said they had determined through a field test that the substance was harmless, and that the envelope was turned over to the Secret Service for investigation. Zahren, however, would not comment on if anything else was found in the envelope or how it was addressed.

Secret Service officials say every letter and package first goes through a security screening. There is no word on if this package went through the security process.

Clinton's office was briefly evacuated in April of 2004 in a similar incident involving a suspicious powder inside a package. Authorities later found the substance to be non-toxic.

Clinton has a 10-year lease for the penthouse floor of the 14-story building. The Secret Service takes up 300 square feet of the space.

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