Saturday, June 15, 2024 - US President, Joe Biden repeatedly watched his German shepherd dog named Commander attack Secret Service members, who wished each other a “safe shift” as the number of incidents mounted, a new report claims.
The number of dog attacks involving Commander, who the White
House said in February was given away after more than two years of terrorizing
Secret service agents assigned to protect Biden; and former first dog Major,
who was rehomed in 2021 after also attacking personnel; could top three dozen,
the newly surfaced records released to Judicial Watch under Freedom of
Information Act litigation show.
Biden, 81, reportedly accused a Secret Service member of
lying about being attacked by Major during his first year in office, but was
present for at least three separate attacks involving Commander, the files
show.
A previously unreported incident on Sept. 12, 2023, featured
a pair of bites in which Commander tore holes in a Secret Service member’s suit
as Biden took him for a walk in the Kennedy Garden along the South Lawn of the
White House.
The president “took Commander (on a leash) to the Kennedy
Garden this evening for a walk,” the special agent assigned to the Presidential
Protective Division wrote in a report.
“While [Biden] and Commander
were in the Kennedy Garden I was standing half way from the Book-Sellers
[lobby] and the Family Theater,” the agent wrote, referring to the area where
the main White House connects to the East Wing.
“[Biden] opened the
Book-Seller door and said [redacted]. As I started to walk toward him to see if
he needed help, Commander ran through his legs and bit my left arm through the
front of my jacket. I pulled my arm away and yelled no,” the victim wrote.
“[President Biden] also
yelled [redacted] to Commander. [Biden] then [redacted]. I obliged and
Commander let me pet him.”
“When turning to close the
door,” the special agent went on, “Commander jumped again and bit my left arm
for the second time. [Biden] again yelled at Commander and attached the leash
to him. My suit coat has 3 holes, 1 being all the way through. No skin was
broken.”
Photos included in the report show damage to the agent’s
suit and dress shirt, for which they sought reimbursement.
On Sept. 25, 2023, following yet another attack involving
Commander, a sergeant in the Secret Service’s uniformed division wrote an
colleague: “FYI- there was a dog bite and the Officer may need to go to the
hospital … Have a safe shift!” It’s unclear if Biden was present for that
incident.
Two days later, an official in the agency’s Safety, Health
& Environmental Division wrote: “Can we please find a way to get this dog
muzzled.”
Biden’s personal presence during attacks was known in two
prior instances.
On Oct. 2, 2022, Biden was there when Commander attacked an
agent who was holding the door for the president as he approached the entryway
near the Rose Garden that connects the West Wing to the rest of the White
House.
“I was bit/grabbed on the
left forearm,” the agent wrote in records made public in February.
“Commander came in first
circled back and grabbed my left arm. He then stood up and back down. He is
literally my height standing. [President Biden] entered shortly after since he
was trailin [sic] behind him. [Biden] entered the Palm Room and said, ‘[redacted
quote]’.”
Biden also was present on Dec. 11, 2022, when the president
“requested to take Commander (on the leash) to the Kennedy Garden,” records
show.
“Once at the KG, [Biden] took
Commander off the leash to run free. I was present to observe [redacted]
departing from the Kennedy Garden to move behind [redacted] toward the south
ground drive via the internal garden gate when [the attack] occurred,” the
victim wrote, describing a 1.5cm (half-inch) cut and bruising on his arm and a
1cm (0.4-inch) cut from a second bite on his hand and thumb.
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