Secret Service 'Destroyed' a Clip of Biden's Pet Dog Commander Attacking an Agent

The Secret Service has allegedly destroyed a video capturing President Joe Biden's dog, Commander, biting an agent, which led to the temporary shutdown of White House tours to clean up blood from the floor. This incident, part of a series of documented attacks by the Bidens' dogs, 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, and apparently, Commander, a German Shepherd, ran fast and jumped toward the said agent in the East Wing's Kennedy Garden, inflicting a 'deep bite' on the agent's left arm; the agent then had to get stitches as well after he bled. Moreover, "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]," as per the email.

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.' Following up, 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 Guglielmi added that he didn't have 'direct knowledge' of what transpired, as per the New York Post.

Despite the destruction of the video, DailyMail had previously obtained a photo showing Commander jumping up and appearing to bite a White House groundskeeper. Video footage of the dog attacks has not been released, but there are reportedly at least 24 documented instances between October 2022 and July 2023, as per BBC, of Commander attacking individuals, 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, Commander often was at 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... 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," read the official emails.

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.