The U.S. Secret Service allegedly destroyed a video of President Joe Biden’s German Shepherd attacking an agent and drawing blood, according to the Daily Mail.
Biden’s three-year-old German Shepherd Commander was removed from the White House in October 2023 after at least 11 biting incidents across the White House and the president’s vacation spots. In one incident, the dog attacked a secret service agent and drew enough blood that White House tours through the East Wing had to be halted, previous documents show. The documents detailing the incident mentioned a video of the attack, the Daily Mail reported, but after submitting a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Secret Service, the outlet found that the file had been deleted. (RELATED: Biden Too Beta? Dog Trainers Say Biting Indicates Lack Of Leadership)
“Due to Secret Service retention standards, the above mentioned file(s) has been destroyed,” Secret Service’s Freedom of Information Act Officer Kevin Tyrrell told the outlet, adding that the agency abides by “federal records retention schedule that defines when certain types of records can be archived, destroyed, etc.”
“Based on that response, I am assuming the record in question is no longer available because of the expiration of record retention,” Tyrrell told the Daily Mail, referring to the response received to the FOIA request.
Is Biden too beta?
Commander, a two-year-old German Shepherd, has been removed from the White House after 11 reported biting incidents.
The behavioral issues indicate a lack of leadership, dog trainers told @DailyCaller.
More here:https://t.co/3SGuy1xIaS
— Reagan Reese (@reaganreese_) October 6, 2023
In the specific incident noted by the outlet, an officer entered one of the White House gardens while the dog was off a leash, documents show.
“Video of the incident shows [the agent] enter the Kennedy Garden while Commander, who was off the leash and on the opposite side of the garden at the time, run at a high rate of speed towards [the agent and] jump towards [the agent] and take [them] to the ground,” a report says, adding that one officer “sustained an injury to [their] left arm (‘deep bite’) that reportedly needed stitches.”
“East Wing Tours were stopped for approximately 20 minutes due to blood from the incident being on the floors in the area of the [lobby connecting the East Wing to the White House],” the report continues.
Following the initial 11 reported bites, another 24 biting incidents were reported in February after Commander had already been ousted from the White House. In at least three of the reported biting attacks, Biden was present on the scene and watched as at times Commander cut agents’ clothes, new documents show.
“POTUS took Commander (on a leash) to the Kennedy Garden this evening for a walk. While POTUS and Commander were in the Kennedy Garden I was standing halfway from the Book-Sellers and the Family Theater. POTUS 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,” a September 2023 email between Secret Service and White House officials said, according to Judicial Watch.
“POTUS also yelled [redacted] to Commander. POTUS then [redacted]. I obliged and Commander let me pet him. When turning to close the door, Commander jumped again and bit my left arm for the second time. POTUS 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,” the email continued.
In another email regarding a biting incident, officers warned each other to have a “safe shift,” documents show.
“FYI – there was a dog bite and the Officer may need to go the hospital,” part of the email wrote. “[Redacted] is covering for [redacted] who was at [redacted].”
“Have a safe shift!” the email concluded.
After Commander’s removal from the White House, dog trainers told the Daily Caller that the dog’s discipline issues could in part be attributed to a lack of leadership from his owner — the president.
“I think that’s probably a lot of it, I’d say [the dog] is probably lacking some direction and lacking some good leadership, but I don’t know how conducive that would be, given the environment that he’s in, for it to be successful with this individual dog,” David Tirpak of Miracle K9 Training told the Caller, adding that German shepherds experience stress when they are controlled by an individual who isn’t the initial person they created a bond with.
