News
Published
Oct. 4, 2023, 4:24 pm ET
WASHINGTON — President Biden’s two-year-old German shepherd Commander bit a White House staffer on digicam final month, his twelfth documented act of aggression previously yr — additional undermining nameless administration spin that the primary canine solely bites Secret Service personnel.
A vacationer photographed Commander sinking his enamel into the arm of White House grounds superintendent Dale Haney, 71, on Sept. 13.
DailyMail.com published the image Wednesday and reported that Haney, who has been photographed previously walking Commander, had been taking part in with the canine when the animal turned on him.
Commander additionally bit a Secret Service agent on Sept. 25, CNN reported final week.
Anonymous White House staffers told Politico Monday that Commander is “always so friendly” and that that they had “never seen him like that” round non-security employees.
A former Biden aide blamed the biting incidents on “enormous men with guns acting suspiciously hostile.”
The Post solely revealed in July that Commander had bitten seven Secret Service staff and proven aggression towards three others between October 2022 and January of this yr.
In essentially the most severe incident, a uniformed officer was referred by the White House medical group to an area hospital for analysis final November after struggling wounds to their arm and thigh, based on emails launched beneath the Freedom of Information Act to watchdog group Judicial Watch.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to remark Wednesday on the brand new {photograph}.
“I would refer you to the Secret Service and also the first lady’s office,” Jean-Pierre stated at her common briefing.
A spokeswoman for first woman Jill Biden didn’t instantly reply to The Post’s request for remark, however advised the Daily Mail, “The First Family continues to work on ways to help Commander handle the often-unpredictable nature of the White House grounds.”
There could also be many further biting incidents that haven’t but been reported as a result of these chronicled in inner emails span a brief window of the canine’s time on the White House — omitting his preliminary 9 months and his most recent eight months.
Those information additionally don’t doc doable incidents impacting non-Secret Service staff.
Judicial Watch is searching for further inner Secret Service communications.
Biden parted methods with former first canine Major throughout his first yr in workplace after that German shepherd repeatedly attacked Secret Service staff and at the least one White House customer.
The White House stated that Major was despatched to stay with household pals.
The White House has not proactively disclosed biting incidents involving both canine.
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