Biden dog Commander bit Secret Service personnel at least 24 times, documents show
President Biden’s dog, Commander, bit Secret Service personnel at least 24 times before he was removed from the White House, new documents reportedly show.
According to hundreds of pages of newly released documents — obtained via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by researcher John Greenewald — Commander was involved in at least two dozen incidents, many of which required special agents to seek medical attention, from October 2022 to July 2023.
The incidents took place at a range of locations, including in Nantucket, Biden’s home in Wilmington, Del., and various locations inside the White House and around the property.
The incidents, first reported by CNN, required Secret Service agents to take steps to “be creative to ensure our own personal safety” when around the German shepherd.
“The recent dog bites have challenged us to adjust our operational tactics when Commander is present,” an email to staff on June 29, 2023, from an assistant special agent in charge of the presidential protection division read. “Please give lots of room (staying a terrain feature away if possible).”
Previous reports about Commander have involved other White House personnel, but the recent documents include only incidents involving Secret Service agents. The documents were first posted to Greenewald's website, The Black Vault, and were reviewed by The Hill.
Some of the incidents were more serious than others. In one description of an incident, on April 12, 2023, an employee wrote that when “Walking to assumed post, I walked to unlock the door leading to the south ground of the White House.”
“Once I open the door, the dog (commander) jumped at me and bit me in the left arm. I sustained two puncture marks and the skin was broken with blood present,” the employee wrote of the incident on a form for workers’ compensation as a result of a traumatic injury.
In another incident, a special agent sustained a “deep bite” that “reportedly needed stitches,” after a video showed Commander “run at a high rate of speed” toward the special agent and “take” the agent “to the ground.”
“East Wing Tours were stopped for approximately 20 minutes due to blood from the incident being on the floors in the area of the Booksellers,” according to the description in the internal document.
The documents suggested many special agents were fearful of being near Commander.
An email from a technician on the Emergency Response Team K9 on May 23, 2023, alerted unidentified officials that “It seems that we're back to the K9 being let off leash to roam the grounds freely.”
“Tonight we had the team on the roadway for the evening sweep when” someone whose name was blacked out in the documents “brought the dog out. K9 ran directly south and bounced between us techs,’” the technician wrote in the email.
“Though no one was bitten it's just a matter of time before it happens,” the email continued.
The Hill has reached out to the White House and first lady Jill Biden’s office for comment.
In a statement to CNN, Elizabeth Alexander, Jill Biden’s communications director, wrote, “The president and first lady care deeply about the safety of those who work at the White House and those who protect them every day."
"Despite additional dog training, leashing, working with veterinarians, and consulting with animal behaviorists, the White House environment simply proved too much for Commander. Since the fall, he has lived with other family members," she added.