Tipsheet

Biden's Dog Bites Enough People to Be 'Put Down'

Katie Pavlich
Katie Pavlich  |  July 25, 2023 3:00 PM

UPDATE: The White House addressed the biting at the daily briefing. 

***Original post***

New documents obtained by government watchdog Judicial Watch show President Joe Biden's dog Commander, a German Shepard, has bitten Secret Service agents enough times to "be put down."

The repeatedly attacks have been serious, sending at least one agent to the hospital. 

"Judicial Watch announced today that it received 194 pages of records from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revealing 10 attacks by President Joe Biden’s German Shepherd, Commander, on officers of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) between October 2022 and January 2023, and do not include any possible recent events. In several cases the agents required medical care, including at a hospital," Judicial Watch released Tuesday. 

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"Judicial Watch forced the release of the records through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit that was filed after the Secret Service, a component of Homeland Security, failed to respond adequately to a December 2022 request for “records related to incidents of aggression and bites involving the Biden family dog, ‘Commander.’ Judicial Watch filed the request after receiving a tip about the dog’s behavior."

Email traffic obtained in the documents shows agents discussing the attacks, calling the dog "a freaking clown" and noting Commander "would already have been put down" if it weren't a Biden animal. 

In a November 5, 2022, email exchange between a Uniformed Division officer and the November 3 attack victim, the first officer asks, “Doing alright [redacted]? That’s freaking crazy that stupid dog – rolling my eyes [redacted].” The victim replies, “My leg and arm still hurts. He bit me twice and ran at me twice.” The colleague replies, “What a joke [redacted] – if it wasn’t their dog he would already have been put down – freaking clown needs a muzzle – hope you get to feeling better [redacted].”

The Biden's other dog, Major, was shipped off to a farm ("given to friends") in late 2021 after a series of attacks on agents and White House staff.

When asked about the latest attacks involving Commander, First Lady Jill Biden's office said Commander is in a "stressful environment." 

Elizabeth Alexander, communications director for first lady Jill Biden, said in an email that the White House complex is a “unique and often stressful environment” for family pets and that the Biden family was “working through ways to make this situation better for everyone.”

Anthony Guglielmi, chief spokesperson for the Secret Service, said in a separate email that his agency has for the past several presidents “navigated how best to operate around family pets and these incidents are no exception. We take the safety and wellbeing of our employees extremely seriously."