President Joe Biden watched his German shepherd Commander misbehaving and attacking Secret Service members multiple times, according to records from the security agency. Members of the president's security detail reportedly wished each other a 'safe shift' before starting work with the dogs.
The documents suggest that Commander, who was removed from the White House in February, along with Major Biden, the first family's other German shepherd rehomed in 2021, were involved in about 36 attacks on security personnel. One workplace safety monitor at the White House urged officials to consider muzzling the dogs, as multiple attacks continued to happen. Attacks by Biden's dogs have since left White House staffers terrified.
Biden's Dogs Brutally Attacked His Security Personnel
Biden also reportedly accused a member of his detail of lying about being attacked by Major early in his presidency. Multiple attacks, including one in September of last year, were revealed in over 100 pages of Secret Service records.
During this incident, Commander bit through the suit of a Secret Service agent while the president was walking him in the Kennedy Garden.
The president "took Commander (on a leash) to the Kennedy Garden this evening for a walk," the special agent assigned to the Presidential Protective Division wrote in a report.
"While [Biden] and Commander were in the Kennedy Garden I was standing half way from the Book-Sellers [lobby] and the Family Theater," the agent wrote, referring to the area where the main White House connects to the East Wing.
"[Biden] 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," the victim wrote.
"[President Biden] also yelled [redacted] to Commander. [Biden] then [redacted]. I obliged and Commander let me pet him."
"When turning to close the door," the special agent went on, "Commander jumped again and bit my left arm for the second time. [Biden] 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."
Photos in the report depict damage to the agent's suit and dress shirt, prompting them to ask for reimbursement.
The most recent set of internal agency records highlights growing frustration with how the animals are being managed.
On September 25, 2023, after another incident involving Commander, a sergeant in the Secret Service's uniformed division wrote to a colleague: "FYI- there was a dog bite and the Officer may need to go to the hospital ... Have a safe shift!" It's unclear if Biden was present for that incident.
Two days later, an official in the agency's Safety, Health & Environmental Division wrote: "Can we please find a way to muzzle this dog?"
Enemy of the Secret Service
Biden was personally present during attacks in two previous instances. On October 2, 2022, Biden was present when Commander attacked an agent who was holding the door for the president near the Rose Garden entryway connecting the West Wing to the rest of the White House.
"I was bitten/grabbed on the left forearm," the agent wrote in records released in February.
"Commander came in first circled back and grabbed my left arm. He then stood up and back down. He is literally my height standing. [President Biden] entered shortly after since he was trailin [sic] behind him. [Biden] entered the Palm Room and said, '[redacted quote]'."
Biden was also there on December 11, 2022, when he asked to take Commander on a leash to the Kennedy Garden, according to records.
"Once at the KG, [Biden] took Commander off the leash to run free. I was present to observe [redacted] departing from the Kennedy Garden to move behind [redacted] toward the south ground drive via the internal garden gate when [the attack] occurred," the victim wrote.
In another severe attack on June 15, 2023, Commander brought an agent "to the ground" outside the East Wing, inflicting a "deep bite" to their arm that required an unspecified number of stitches.
As a result of the incident, "East Wing Tours were halted for about 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."
