Secret Service says it ‘destroyed’ tape of Biden’s dog splattering agent’s blood at White House
WASHINGTON — The Secret Service says it “destroyed” video footage of President Biden’s German shepherd Commander attacking one of its agents — just days after additional evidence of a potential cover-up emerged in a batch of documents showing a request to delete logs of a different attack.
The presidential protection agency said it no longer has video of a June 15, 2023, attack that forced the White House to suspend tours to mop up an agent’s blood — one of the most severe incidents involving Commander — in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
“Due to Secret Service retention standards, the above mentioned file(s) has been destroyed,” Secret Service FOIA Officer Kevin Tyrrell wrote to the Daily Mail, which sought the video after its existence was described in a February document release as part of public-records litigation brought by Judicial Watch.
The tape was described in previously reported records as showing Commander “run at a high rate of speed towards [the agent and] jump towards [the agent] and take [them] to the ground.”
The agent “sustained an injury to [their] left arm (‘deep bite’) that reportedly needed stitches” and “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],” those records say.
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told the outlet that “I am assuming the record in question is no longer available because of the expiration of record retention,” as opposed to deliberate deletion to conceal the images from the public, but said he lacked “direct knowledge.”
However, records made public Friday by Judicial Watch show that in at least one instance, Secret Service members were asked to delete logs of an attack within an hour of it happening.
That instruction came on Sept. 25, 2023, after an EMT was requested to treat a bitten agency member, who was injured so badly that communications show they may have required hospitalization.
That instruction came on Sept. 25, 2023, after an EMT was requested to the White House to treat a bitten agency member, who was injured so badly that communications show they may have required hospitalization.
An email titled “LOG: DOG BITE (09-25-2023)” describes the reporting of that attack at 8:06 p.m. followed by a request for the Joint Operations Center’s logs to be deleted at 8:58 p.m.
The Joint Operations Center, or JOC, is a facility where Secret Service members coordinate and monitor field operations.
“CAPT. [redacted] REQUEST JOC [Joint Operations Center] LOG TO BE DELETED,” an agency member whose name was redacted from the record wrote to colleagues.
It’s unclear what documents and images may have been contained in the JOC log of that particular incident.
“We’re concerned because the videos seem to be responsive to our FOIA lawsuits,” said Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton.
Fitton said confirmation that at least some tapes were destroyed was “no surprise” following the revelation last week that logs were sanitized.
The Secret Service did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment on the log deletion.
Commander’s series of attacks on Secret Service members was first reported last year by The Post. Documents show that President Biden witnessed at least three attacks and that the dog drew blood and required hospital attention in multiple instances.
The White House said in February that Commander is now living with family members. The Bidens previously said in 2021 they had sent prior first dog Major to live with friends after he also repeatedly attacked the Secret Service.
Some of the records released under FOIA litigation indicate there are photos of Secret Service members’ wounds from the dogs, though to date those images have been redacted from files.
