US secret service agents were angered after the White House downplayed the injuries caused by President Joe Biden's dog last year. Biden's dog, Major, had bitten secret Service agents multiple times. The White House was involved in hiding and downplaying the injuries, revealed the fresh documents.
Agents were outraged last year over downplaying of such incidents, and even Biden had to pay personally for a damaged coat. Documents were released after Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit under Freedom of Information.
Why Was White House Downplaying Injuries?
Last year in March, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki spoke about a biting incident, stating that the first family's younger dog, Major, was surprised by an unfamiliar person and reacted in a way that resulted in a minor injury to the individual.
The March 8 bite caused severe injuries to a secret service agent and he was angered by Psaki's spin.
Top officials of the secret Service were also trying to keep details out of official paperwork after Major bit agents on eight consecutive days. The top officials rejected an agent's "excessively detailed" account to avoid upsetting the first family.
Severe Injuries
An unknown secret service employee messaged to his colleague referring to photos of the bite area in March 2021 and said the "injury cannot be described in any other term than 'severe'."
The incident occurred at about 7 am on March 8 as the agent was in the second-floor White House residential area with first lady Jill Biden. "Without warning or provocation, Major barked loudly at [the agent] ... and charged," is how a newly released, heavily redacted incident report describes what happened, according to the Daily Mail.
Major is Biden's younger German Shephard and has bitten many secret service agents. Reimbursements were sought from the First Family by a Secret Service agent after he became the victim of Major's bite two times. Major has been moved to DC after the 2021 incident and is currently being taken care of by close friends of Biden.
According to the new documents, President Biden's former chief protective agent David Cho sent an email an hour after the March 8 attack that read, "Major bit one of the agents this morning. The agent is ok, but does have bruising and a puncture."
Major bit the same agent for the second time but it was unknown when the incident took place.
The agent from the Presidential Protective Division suffered two attacks in less than 10 days.
The same agent was later bitten a second time by Major, but it is not yet known when that incident took place, although it took place soon after the first one.
Pictures of dog bite injuries were omitted from the report. But two pictures were shared showing damage to the agent's wool overcoat on March 6.
Agents were also asked to submit their request and memo in a language approved by the legal office. Detailing of the event was not allowed to be submitted. And if it is necessary to give detail about the incident, it was allowed in approved verbiage. Only then, the requests of Secret Service agents were processed.
