President Joe Biden’s dog Commander has bitten Secret Service agents 24 times at the White House and other locations, according to a report.
The reported incident was documented by CNN after it obtained internal USSS documents showing the dog bit the dog more times than originally thought.
“The new document is be A Freedom of Information Act request revealed the extent to which this situation posed a serious workplace problem for the hundreds of staffers who support White House operations, and how agency personnel were able to avoid injury by the German shepherd. Find out if you have changed your habits. ” I got it. CNN.
An anonymous assistant special agent in charge of the USSS Presidential Protection Division wrote in an email to the team in June 2023 that agents “must be creative to ensure our own safety. ” he wrote.
“Recent dog bite incidents require adjustments to operational tactics when the commander is present. Please allow sufficient leeway,” the email said.
Months after that email and several more harrowing incidents, the White House finally removed the commander from the premises.
October 2022, Anonymous Secret Service Technician described one incident and said, “The family pet’s behavior escalated and…I fear something worse will happen to others.”
Documented incidents involved members of the Uniformed Division of the Secret Service, members of the Presidential Guard, and other USSS personnel. They took place both inside and outside the White House residence, as well as the Biden family’s homes in Wilmington, Delaware and Rehoboth Beach, Camp David, and Nantucket, Massachusetts, where the first family will spend the Thanksgiving holiday.
A source close to the Bidens said the family felt “horrible” and “heartbroken” about the biting incident, adding that they were deeply apologetic.
“They are heartbroken over this. They have apologized to the people who were bitten and sent some flowers. They feel terrible. The commander was overprotective, so they tried to do something about it. “Despite our efforts, we had to move the commander to live with other family members,” the source said.
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden walk their dog Commander in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, on December 28, 2021. AP Photo/Patrick Semanski, File)
Commander joined our family as a puppy in December 2021. The biting incident began in October 2022 and lasted almost a full year. First Lady Jill Biden’s communications director, Elizabeth Alexander, said in a statement provided to CNN that the commander in chief has been kept away from all White House and Secret Service staff since he was taken into custody by other family members. Stated.
“The President and the First Lady care deeply about the safety of those who work in the White House and those who protect them every day. We are committed to providing additional dog training, leashes, working with veterinarians, and consulting with animal behaviorists. “Yet the White House environment was too harsh for the commander in chief,” she said.
“Since the fall, he has been living with another family,” she added.
In an email dated July 29, 2023, USSS spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi told his media team to “create a potential public response” to a critical incident at the presidential palace in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. I called out. The heavily redacted email said officers from the Presidential Guard’s countersurveillance unit entered the backyard and learned that the commander had “a loose leash that had come loose.”
“In the background SA [redacted] FLOTUS I heard the voice of someone who appeared to be Dr. Jill Biden. [redacted] shout [redacted quote].The commander ran towards the post. [redacted] Booth and Bit SA [redacted in the left forearm. Causing a severe deep open wound. As result of the attack SA [redacted] started to loosen [sic] a significant amount of blood from [redacted] arm,” the report states.
The agent received six stitches to his forearm and was treated at the scene by the White House Medical Unit.
In another incident in October 2022, an employee was bitten on the forearm while holding a door open in the area between the west wing and a residence.
“The commander and president were entering the Palm Room through the West Colonnade. The commander came back first and grabbed my left arm,” the email said. “Then he stood up and went back down again. He’s literally as tall as I am. POTUS was following behind him, so he quickly entered. The President entered the Palm Room and said: [redacted]”
The Biden family dog Commander plays with a tennis ball on the South Lawn of the White House on Friday, January 21, 2022. (HUM Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
In another incident in November 2022, a dog injured a uniformed division police officer’s right arm and right quadriceps. His injuries required hospital treatment. In another incident in December 2022, a commander bit an agent whose family was present for the first time.
“While the first family was returning from the tennis pavilion, [redacted] Her hands were occupied and there was no one around, so I tried to open the closed door…for her. At that moment, the dog of the first family overtook everyone and headed for the door of the back room. He bit my left forearm even though the door was not fully open,” the officer said.
That particular bite left no trace.
In 2021, reports surfaced that the president’s then-pet dog Major, also a German Shepherd, had been involved in two serious biting incidents. A year later, several Secret Service officials claimed that the White House lied about the incident to minimize the fallout.
Documents released by Judicial Watch under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) revealed The Secret Service has tried to downplay the incident and even reprimanded one of its employees for giving details of the attack for fear of upsetting the Biden family. In March 2021, White House press secretary Jen Psaki claimed that Major was attacked by a dog after being “startled by a stranger.”
“The first family’s young dog, Major, had a startled reaction to a stranger and caused him minor injuries,” Psaki admitted at the time.
According to unsealed documents, the bite was Occurred The dog bit a staff member for eight consecutive days, and the injuries were not considered minor but “serious.”
“No, I wasn’t surprised that the dog was doing my job.” [redacted] As the press secretary said earlier! I’m angry now,” the agent said. I have written To a colleague. My colleague replied: ..I hope you weren’t hurt. [sic] bad. “
Another message from a Secret Service agent referred to the bite and said, “This injury cannot be described in any other words than ‘serious injury.'”
The biting occurred at 7 a.m. on the second floor of the White House residential area near First Lady Jill Biden’s office, according to a heavily redacted incident report.
This November 16, 2018 photo shows Joe Biden and his newly adopted German shepherd, Major, in Wilmington, Delaware. (Stephanie Carter/Delaware Humane Society, via AP)
Without warning or provocation, the Major barked loudly. [the agent] … and charges were filed,” the report states. “There is no time to defend yourself from attack, [the agent] The dog bit me so I turned away. [redacted] right leg. “
David Cho, then-President Biden’s chief of security, wrote in an email later that day: The agent is okay, but with bruises and puncture wounds. ”
The agent was reportedly bitten a second time by the major.The report redacts photos of the injured, except for one. Indicated Agent’s torn wool overcoat.
The major was later sent to live with friends in Delaware, and the president adopted the commander.
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