Judicial Watch: Records Detail Biden Dog Attacks on Secret Service Personnel

‘Can we please find a way to get this dog muzzled’ – Secret Service official 

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it received 116 pages of United States Secret Service (USSS) records from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) that reveal the details about several incidents in which Secret Service personnel were bitten by President Biden’s dog Commander, sometimes requiring medical attention.

The records come in response to a February 2024 lawsuit that was filed after the Department of Homeland Security failed to respond to a September 27, 2023, FOIA request (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:24-cv-00429)). Judicial Watch asks for:                  

Any and all records related to incidents of aggression and bites involving the Biden family dog, “Commander”, including but not limited to communications sent to and from USSS officials in the Uniformed and Non-Uniformed Divisions involved in White House operations and the Presidential Protection Division.           

The newly obtained records include a September 12, 2023, email between Secret Service officials stating:                       

POTUS took Commander (on a leash) to the Kennedy Garden this evening for a walk. While POTUS and Commander were in the Kennedy Garden I was standing half way from the Book-Sellers and the Family Theater. POTUS 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. POTUS also yelled [redacted] to Commander. POTUS then [redacted]. I obliged and Commander let me pet him. When turning to close the door, Commander jumped again and bit my left arm for the second time. POTUS 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.  

On September 14, 2023, an agent in the Presidential Protective Detail, whose name is redacted, using the subject line “5/12/2021” sent an email to a colleague with several attachments, including photos of suits, repair estimates and a “Damage to Personal Property” form indicating that a dog biting incident had occurred on May 12, 2021. In the claim form, the agent asks for $943 for a new suit, because: “Through no fault or negligence of my own, the coat was torn by a dog bite.”

 [Page 68] On September 25, 2023, a sergeant in the Uniformed Division emails a colleague that Commander bit an agent that day.

You currently have [redacted] and [redacted] available after 2055 hours.

FYI – there was a dog bite and the Officer may need to go the hospital.

[Redacted] is covering for [redacted] who was at [redacted].

Have a safe shift!

 A Secret Service log the same day reported that at 8:06 p.m. on September 25, 2023:

OFC. [redacted] (POST [redacted] ADVISED BIT BY FAMILY PET AND REQUESTED SECTOR OFFICIAL.

 SGT. [redacted] REQUESTED EMT TO RESPOND.

 At 8:08 p.m. the log notes:

OFC. [redacted] [redacted] ADVISED WHITE HOUSE MEDICAL HELD POST [redacted].

OFC. [redacted] [redacted] ADVISED FAMILY PET 2nd FLOOR RESIDENCE.”

The last entry in the log indicates “[8:58 p.m.] – CAPT. [redacted] REQUEST JOC [Joint Operations Center] LOG TO BE DELETED.”

The next day, CNN reporter Betsy Klein emails the Secret Service asking, “if you are able to confirm that a uniformed female USSS officer was hospitalized for a biting incident with Commander Biden last night.”

 Anthony Guglielmi, chief of communications, replies:

Yesterday around 8pm, a Secret Service Uniformed Division police officer came in contact with a First Family pet and was bitten. The officer was treated by medical personnel on complex and I am not aware of any hospitalization.

The CNN report produced multiple queries from various media outlets. Guglielmi sent the same response to each.

 A September 27, 2023, email from a Secret Service worker’s compensation official in the Safety, Health & Environmental Division writes to several colleagues: “Heads up and FYI. TMZ just reported a dog bite at the White House! Can we please find a way to get this dog muzzled.”

A colleague asks, “How does TMZ know before we do???” An official in the same division responds “Not sure. We must get this dog muzzled.” Another replies, “Geezzzz…”. Another adds, “Unbelievable!” 

Two days earlier an article was published, which notes “President Biden’s Dog Commander Allegedly Bit 7 People.”

“These documents show Joe Biden is personally responsible for attacks by his dog Commander on Secret Service personnel,” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said. “No wonder the Biden White House forced us to go to federal court for these records.”  

Judicial Watch FOIA requests and lawsuits exposed initial White House falsehoods about the severity and number of attacks by the Bidens’ previous dog, Major. Judicial Watch then received a tip that Commander was also attacking Secret Service personnel and uncovered documents last July showing 10 biting incidents.

According to a Judicial Watch source, President Biden mistreated his dogs. The source disclosed Biden punched and kicked his dogs.

In February 2024 Judicial Watch received 269 pages of records related to incidents of aggression by Commander, including at least 23 biting incidents. After one incident, East Wing public tours were stopped for approximately 20 minutes due to the blood on the floor. These records include a spreadsheet of 22 incident reports between October 2022 and June 2023, 10 of which required medical treatment.

On May 14, 2024, Judicial Watch filed a separate lawsuit after the Department of Homeland Security failed to respond to a February 28, 2024, FOIA request (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:24-cv-01397)). Judicial Watch is asking for

All emails and text messages sent to and from the following officials regarding the submission of CA-1 Forms (“Notice of Traumatic Injury and Claim for Continuation of Pay or Compensation”) in connection with bites by Biden family dogs: Director Kimberly Cheatle, Deputy Dir. Ronald Rowe, Chief Operating Officer Cynthia Radway, Asst. Dir. Michael Plati, Asst. Dir. Brian Lambert, Chief Human Capital Officer Denise Walker Hall, Asst. Dir. David Smith, Asst. Dir. Miltom Wilson, Uniformed Division Chief Michael Buck, Chief Counsel Thomas Huse, and Chief of Communications Anthony Guglielmi.

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