OAN’s James Meyers
12:34 PM – Thursday, February 22, 2024
President Joe Biden’s now-banished German shepherd “Commander” actually had more bite incidents than what was initially revealed to the press.
Newly released records from the U.S. Secret Service revealed that the dog, who is known to be aggressive, was involved in at least 25 biting incidents in less than a year.
The Secret Service released 269 pages this month that related to a Freedom of Information Act request, which included email traffic with anecdotes related to dog bites.
The released pages included a table of 23 incidents from October 2022 to July 2023, but it does not account for two more incidents in September and October that finally forced the removal of Commander.
The bites punctured agents’ arms, hands, thighs, back, wrists, elbows, chest, waist and an agent’s ammunition magazine pouch. 11 of the incidents also required medical attention.
In addition to Secret Service members, the records showed bit Navy personnel and other White House staff as well.
“The recent dog bites have challenged us to adjust our operational tactics when Commander is present – please give lots of room,” an unnamed assistant special agent in charge of USSS’ Presidential Protective Division wrote to their team in a June 2023 email, warning that agents “must be creative to ensure our own personal safety.”
That warning came several months before the dog was eventually removed from the White House.
Furthermore, in October 2022, an unnamed Secret Service technician highlighted how during an incident, they were “worried about the family pets behavior escalating and that … something worse was going to happen to others.”
First Lady Jill Biden sent a statement to CNN, claiming that they had attempted a number of different methods to address the dog-biting problem, but eventually gave up and decided to send the pooch to live with relatives.
“Despite additional dog training, leashing, working with veterinarians, and consulting with animal behaviorists, the White House environment simply proved too much for Commander,” her statement said.
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