Washington, D.C. – The Secret Service recently destroyed a video capturing President Joe Biden’s dog, Commander, attacking one of its agents. This incident led to the suspension of White House tours as blood had to be cleaned off the floor following the attack. The video, which was mentioned in an email detailing the biting incident, was sought after through a Freedom of Information Act request.
The email describing the incident mentioned Commander running at high speed and biting the agent in the East Wing Kennedy Garden, resulting in the need for stitches. The Secret Service cited retention standards as the reason for destroying the file containing the video footage. This destruction came to light in a response to DailyMail.com in March.
Following the incident, there was a total of 25 documented attacks involving Commander. Documents obtained by Judicial Watch shed light on the June 15, 2023 incident in which Commander bit the agent in the East Wing Kennedy Garden. The emails also revealed warnings about Commander being off-leash on the White House grounds leading up to the attack.
Subsequent emails detailed another attack in the same garden involving President Biden and Commander. In this incident, the dog bit a Secret Service official who was coming to the President’s aid. This attack, like others, led to concerns about the safety of personnel around Commander, prompting the compilation of a spreadsheet detailing all attacks involving the dog.
On October 4, 2023, a White House spokesperson confirmed that Commander had been relocated off-site following a series of biting incidents. Commander, a birthday gift from the President’s brother, had replaced the Bidens’ previous dog, Major, who was removed from the White House for similar behavior. Champ, another Biden family German Shepherd, had passed away in June 2021.