Secret Service Allegedly Destroyed Video of Biden’s Dog-Biting Agent, Leading to Tour Shutdown
President Joe Biden with Commander. ADAM SCHULTZ/THE WHITE HOUSE VIA AP
The Secret Service has reportedly destroyed a video showing President Joe Biden’s dog, Commander, biting an agent, an incident that led to the temporary suspension of White House tours to clean up blood from the floor. This incident, part of a series of documented attacks by the Bidens’ dogs, has raised concerns about safety and record-keeping within the agency.
Commander was given to the Bidens after their previous German Shepherd, Major, was removed from the White House for biting agents. Commander, a puppy at the time, was a birthday gift from Biden’s brother James and sister-in-law Sara. Another Biden dog, a German Shepherd named Champ, died in June 2021.
The video in question was mentioned in an email detailing a biting incident on June 15, 2023. According to the email, Commander, a German Shepherd, ran fast and jumped toward the agent in the East Wing’s Kennedy Garden, inflicting a “deep bite” on the agent’s left arm, requiring stitches. The email also noted, “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].”
A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request was filed with the Secret Service in March to obtain this video. However, the Secret Service’s FOIA Officer, Kevin Tyrrell, informed the outlet that “due to Secret Service retention standards, the above-mentioned file(s) had been destroyed.” Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi explained, “I am assuming the record in question is no longer available because of the expiration of record retention,” but added that he did not have “direct knowledge” of what transpired, according to the New York Post.
Despite the destruction of the video, DailyMail had previously obtained a photo showing the Commander jumping up and appearing to bite a White House groundskeeper. While video footage of the dog attacks has not been released, there are reportedly at least 24 documented instances between October 2022 and July 2023 of Commander attacking individuals, according to the BBC, as well as additional incidents involving the Bidens’ previous German Shepherd, Major.
Documents obtained by Judicial Watch, a conservative group, detailed the June 15, 2023, attack, which was reported to Deputy Assistant Director Darryl Volpicelli. Other emails from that FOIA request revealed that in the weeks leading up to the June 15 attack, the Commander was often seen roaming the White House grounds. “Just for situational awareness. It seems that we’re back to the K9 being let off the leash to roam the grounds freely,” warned a Secret Service official in an email on May 23, 2023.
The email continued, “Tonight, we had the team on the roadway for the evening sweep when [redacted] brought the dog out. K9 ran directly south and bounced between us techs… Though no one was bitten, it’s just a matter of time before it happens.” The Secret Service had been surveying its employees to create a record of the dog attacks. June 15, 2023, the day of the Kennedy Garden attack, coincidentally marked the deadline for officials to report whether they had been bitten by Commander. The Secret Service was compiling a spreadsheet of all incidents, noting locations and the body parts targeted by the dog.
