President Biden’s German shepherd, Commander, has yet again attacked a Secret Service staff member, officials said Tuesday, the latest incident in an ongoing pattern of similar documented behavior going back nearly a year.
A uniformed Secret Service officer “came in contact” with the 2-year-old Commander at about 8 p.m. on Monday at the White House “and was bitten,” Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi confirmed to CBS News in a statement.
The officer was treated by medical personnel at the White House. No further details were provided.
Elizabeth Frantz for The Washington Post via Getty Images
This comes after nearly 200-pages of redacted federal documents released in July described 10 other alleged attacks by Commander on Secret Service officers and agents dating back to October 2022. None of the injuries sustained by the victims were serious, the documents said.
In an Oct. 26, 2022, incident, according to Secret Service emails, an unnamed Secret Service officer wrote that Commander “came charging” at him in the presence of First Lady Jill Biden.
The officer said that the first lady “couldn’t regain control of Commander and he continued to circle me. I believe it’s only a matter of time before an agent/officer is attacked or bit.”
In another incident on Dec. 11, 2022, an agent was bitten twice in the Kennedy Garden of the White House in the presence of Mr. Biden after the dog was taken off his leash, emails said. The president showed concern for the officer, the emails read, who was treated by White House medical personnel and was able to finish his shift.
In a statement provided to CBS News Tuesday evening, first lady spokesperson Elizabeth Alexander wrote that “the First Family continues to work on ways to help Commander handle the often unpredictable nature of the White House grounds. The President and First Lady are incredibly grateful to the Secret Service and Executive Residence staff for all they do to keep them, their family, and the country safe.”
Commander was gifted to the Bidens as a puppy in December of 2021 after the death of their German shepherd Champ earlier that year.
That same year, Biden’s other German shepherd, Major, was relocated to Delaware to live with friends of the Bidens’ after also being involved in multiple biting incidents at the White House.
