Before he was moved, the First Family's pooch, Commander, earned a naughty reputation for going to town on Secret Service members like they were human chew toys.
And according to a new New York Post report, President Joe Biden was present when his notoriously troublemaking German shepherd attacked in three separate instances.
In one documented nip on Sept. 12, 2023, Commander punctured holes in a Secret Service member’s suit while Biden was walking him in the Kennedy Garden along the South Lawn of the White House, according to The Post.
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“[Biden] 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!'” the victim wrote, according to the Post's report.
“[President Biden] also yelled [redacted] to Commander. [Biden] then [redacted]. I obliged and Commander 'Let me pet him.'"
The agent confirmed the dog seemed especially aggressive.
“When turning to close the door, Commander jumped again and bit my left arm for the second time.
"[Biden] 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.”
In a separate chomping incident involving Commander in which Biden was present — this one on Dec. 11, 2022 — the president reportedly “requested to take Commander (on the leash) to the Kennedy Garden,” records show.
“Once at the KG, [Biden] took Commander off the leash to run free," according to the victim's report. "I was present to observe [redacted] departing from the Kennedy Garden to move behind [redacted] toward the south ground drive via the internal garden gate when [the attack] occurred.
The agent went on to detail a half-inch cut and bruising on his arm and a roughly half-inch laceration caused by a second bite on his hand and thumb.
On June 15, 2023, according to The Post, Commander brought an agent “to the ground” outside the East Wing, taking a “deep bite” to their arm that required stitches.
The Post recounts the incident causing East Wing Tours to halt "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].”
After a Sept. 25, 2023 bite, a sergeant in the Secret Service’s uniformed division wrote a colleague: “FYI- there was a dog bite and the Officer may need to go to the hospital … Have a safe shift!”
Ultimately, Commander was pushed out of the White House after more than two years of dogging staffers.
CNN counted 24 documented times Commander bit Secret Service agents. That number may actually be conservative since it fails to include additional incidents involving "executive residence staff and other White House workers."
