Nobody cares about Commandergate: Biden’s dog Commander sent Secret Service officer to hospital

Biden’s dog Commander sent Secret Service officer to hospital, bit 6 others after replacing first pooch Major

https://nypost.com/2023/07/25/biden-dog-commander-bit-or-threatened-10-people-sent-one-to-hospital/

excerpt:

WASHINGTON — President Biden’s nearly two-year-old German shepherd Commander bit seven people in a four-month period after former first dog Major was ousted from the White House over similar aggressive behavior, according to internal Secret Service communications reviewed by The Post.

The shocking spate of incidents involving Commander — none of them previously known — mirror attacks involving Major, who the White House says was given to family friends after biting many Secret Service members in 2021.

In the most serious documented incident involving Commander, the White House physician’s office on Nov. 3, 2022, referred a bitten Secret Service uniformed officer to a local hospital for treatment after the dog clamped down on their arm and thigh, according to emails released under the Freedom of Information Act to conservative legal group Judicial Watch.

Records show Commander broke the skin of a different Secret Service member’s hand and arm weeks later after the president unleashed him outside the White House following a family movie night — and the following month, Commander bit the back of a security technician at Biden’s Wilmington, Del., home.

The new first family headache comes as House Republicans intensify their focus on Joe Biden’s role in his son Hunter and brother James Biden’s international business dealings in countries such as Ukraine and China — with one of Hunter’s closest associates, Devon Archer, expected to testify next week that the first son often put his then-vice president dad on speaker phone while with his foreign partners.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the dog bites — after facing criticism for non-transparency for covering up incidents involving former first dog Major.

***
“These shocking records raise fundamental questions about President Biden and the Secret Service,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

“This is a special sort of craziness and corruption where a president would allow his dog to repeatedly attack and bite Secret Service and White House personnel. And rather than protect its agents, the Secret Service tried to illegally hide documents about the abuse of its agents and officers by the Biden family.”
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more at the link

ib4 Biden says "smartest dog I know"

 

Althouse comments

July 25, 2023
"President Biden’s nearly two-year-old German shepherd Commander bit seven people in a four-month period after former first dog Major was ousted from the White House over similar aggressive behavior..."

"... according to internal Secret Service communications reviewed by The Post.... In the most serious documented incident involving Commander, the White House physician’s office on Nov. 3, 2022, referred a bitten Secret Service uniformed officer to a local hospital for treatment after the dog clamped down on their arm and thigh... Records show Commander broke the skin of a different Secret Service member’s hand and arm weeks later after the president unleashed him outside the White House following a family movie night — and the following month, Commander bit the back of a security technician at Biden’s Wilmington, Del., home.... Biden, 80, has reportedly expressed doubts about the honesty of a Secret Service member who reported being bitten on the leg by his prior dog Major, also a German shepherd.... Behind the scenes, agents described alarming series of incidents...."

I'm reading "Biden’s dog Commander sent Secret Service officer to hospital, bit 6 others after replacing first pooch Major" (NY Post).

Two aggressive, uncontrollable dogs? Clearly, the fault of the humans.

Remember when Trump was criticized just for not having a dog? ("I wouldn't mind having one honestly, but I don't have time. How would I look walking a dog on the White House lawn?... Feels a little phony to me. People say, Oh, you should get a dog. Why? It's good politically. I said, That's not the relationship I have with my people.")

ADDED: Harry Truman famously said, "If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog." Joe Biden got 2 dogs in Washington and both were enemies.

Posted by Ann Althouse at 7:07 AM ​

 

#CocaineDog

 

CNN has picked up the ball and is running with it

The Bidens’ dog has been involved in 10 biting incidents, emails show

https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/25/politics/commander-biden-bites-secret-service/index.html

 

hat tip NERF

 

I know Turley Only Haters are unlikely to go back and read the 2022 column. So here it is. The Commandergate scandal is growing by the minute.

December 30, 2022
President Bites Agent: Book Claims Biden Insisted Secret Service Lied About Dog Attack
December 30, 2022

It didn’t happen.” According to published excerpts, President Joe Biden is denying an account of the Secret Service about an agent being attacked by his German Shepherd, Major, at the White House. The statement from the President raises some interesting legal questions after he effectively called an agent a liar about an official report on one of many bite incidents with the Biden dogs.

If the quote is accurate, the criticism could not only be viewed as defamatory but another unfounded attack on the integrity and veracity of federal employees by the President. This should not be dismissed as some sensational “President Bites Agent” story. It raises long-standing concerns over the lack of recourse for agents endangered or abused by protected individuals. Indeed, the controversy raises some of the issues litigated during the Clinton Administration over the status of Secret Service agents.

The book, “The Fight of His Life,” by author Chris Whipple details Biden’s continued mistrust of the Secret Service and his alleged avoidance of saying anything in front of agents. Biden has long had tense relations with the Secret Service, particularly after female agents complained about his exposing himself to them by insisting on swimming in the nude.

The book claims that Biden has his own “deep state” conspiracy theories. Biden reportedly views the Secret Service as essentially the enemy within, suggesting that it is populated by “MAGA sympathizers” due to the fact that the service “is full of white ex-cops from the South who tend to be deeply conservative.”

However, this is a major escalation in that reportedly strained relationship. Some of us previously discussed the problem of the Biden dogs (including his other dog Champ) biting agents, attacks that would ordinarily lead to liability. In one eight-day period, agents were bitten every day. Indeed, outside of the White House, the Biden dogs would qualify for strict liability under the common law as displaying a vicious disposition.

Under the common law, the Bidens could claim that Major and Champ were entitled to “one free bite.” The “one free bite rule” is a commonly misunderstood torts doctrine — suggesting that you are not subject to strict liability until after the first time your dog bites someone. In fact, you are subject to strict liability whenever you know or have reason to know of the vicious propensity of your animal. That can be satisfied by conduct such as frequent snapping or aggressive behavior.

The Biden case is more analogous to the infamous case from San Francisco involving lawyers and dog owners Marjorie Knoller and Robert Noel. They were found both criminally and civilly liable after their two Presa Canario dogs killed apartment neighbor Diane Whipple. Various neighbors complained about the dogs. The dogs had not bitten anyone but were known to be aggressive. That was sufficient.

Accounts from the prior biting incident indicate that Major had been displaying aggressive behavior, including barking and charging at White House staff and security. Major’s “vicious propensity” was known or should have been known to the Bidens.

Yet, after the prior incident, White House press secretary Jen Psaki called the injury as “minor” and insisted that Major was just “getting acclimated and accustomed to their surroundings and new people.” He was then sent away to Delaware with Champ. It was the equivalent of a politician going into “treatment” at the height of a scandal. Major was later returned to the White House but proceed to “acclimate” himself on the limbs of Secret Service agents.

The White House failed to disclose the incidents and only partially confirmed past attacks when pressed by the media.

Now Biden is quoted as saying that he does not trust the Secret Service and believes that one agent is outright lying about one attack by Major. The President is quoted as saying “Look, the Secret Service are never up here. It didn’t happen.”

The incident was reported by the agent and photos were taken to document that attack. The President’s denial of the location ignores the confirmed attack itself. Other agents complained about the disregard of the agents by the Bidens in the repeated attacks, including one agent who reportedly insisted that the president personally pay to repair a ripped coat after one attack on March 6, 2021.

Agents are quoted as being angry when then-White House press secretary Jen Psaki dismissed one attack as an agent triggering Major by suddenly appearing in the private quarters.

There is a difference, however, between being callous and being accusatory toward agents. President Biden went further in claiming that the agent was lying.

It is not the first time that the President has refused to consider evidence and categorically denounced federal officers. Last year, Biden publicly declared border agents guilty of whipping migrants despite a videotape refuting the allegation. He promised that they would be punished. The agents were later cleared of all of the whipping allegations, but the Biden Administration still sought to punish them anyway.

Now the President is calling an agent a liar about one of the numerous dog attacks by Major (who was later shipped away to be housed with “friends.”). It is a clearly defamatory statement since he is alleging that the agent not only lied but then filed a false report. The statement also impugns the character of other agents who documented in the incident.

The Secret Service is not some Praetorian Guard serving at the pleasure of the First Family or their pets. During the Clinton Administration, I represented former Attorneys General in opposing claims by President Clinton that agents could not give evidence against him under a “Secret Service Privilege.” The courts agreed that they remain law enforcement officers, not some personal body guard.

The only recourse for agents in the Biden biting incidents was to file for medical or leave benefits. The President, however, has impugned their integrity and professional reputations. If he told another person (as reported in this book) there is “publication” of a defamatory claim. Moreover, this is not an opinion but a stated fact that agents are “never up here” and thus the incident could not have occurred.

The Bidens know that it is doubtful that any agent would sue over their treatment. These are professionals. It is up to Congress to exercise oversight authority to guarantee that they are also not be treated as the chew toys of privileged pets.
​

​

 

looks like they've brought the First Lady out of the doghouse to explain the First Dog's actions

White House blames ‘stressful environment’ for first dog’s bite spree

https://nypost.com/2023/07/25/white...mmanders-bite-spree-on-stressful-environment/

excerpt:

WASHINGTON — The first dog leads a dog’s life, even in the White House.

That’s the Biden administration’s explanation for why the president’s German shepherd Commander bit at least seven Secret Service members in recent months — sending one protection officer to the hospital.

“The White House complex is a unique and often stressful environment for family pets, and the First Family is working through ways to make this situation better for everyone,” said Elizabeth Alexander, communications director for first lady Jill Biden, in a statement Tuesday.

Commander, approximately 23 months old, replaced former first dog Major — another German shepherd who also bit many Secret Service members.

Commander’s bites, first reported by The Post Tuesday morning, were concealed from the public despite attacks on a variety of presidential security personnel, both on the White House grounds and also at the 80-year-old Biden’s home in Wilmington, Del., where the family often spends weekends.

Alexander added that the first family “have been partnering with the Secret Service and Executive Residence staff on additional leashing protocols and training, as well as establishing designated areas for Commander to run and exercise.

“According to the Secret Service, each incident referenced was treated similarly to comparable workplace injuries, with relevant notifications and reporting procedures followed,” she went on. “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.”

Some critics weren’t buying the White House explanation.

“There are no bad dogs, only bad people who have dogs,” attorney Gabriel Malor wrote on Twitter. “It’s time for the Bidens to stop trying to make the dog thing happen. They’re clearly not up for it.”

“This is the second Biden dog that’s done this. Maybe the problem isn’t the dog,” added conservative commentator Jim Treacher.

***
The bites were documented in Secret Service emails released to the conservative legal group Judicial Watch pursuant to Freedom of Information Act litigation.

The released records only span from October 2022 through January of this year — a four-month snapshot of the Commander’s 19 spent at the White House — meaning that there may be more bites that aren’t yet known. There were three instances of documented aggressive behavior in addition to the seven bites.

The incidents were made public one day before Biden’s son Hunter, 53, appears in Delaware federal court Wednesday to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of tax fraud and a gun possession felony, in another embarrassing story for the first family.

President Biden has reportedly expressed doubts about the honesty of a Secret Service agent who claimed to have been bitten on the leg by Major — and those incidents caused tension within the presidential protection agency, with one agent demanding that the president personally pay for a torn coat and one venting about the White House’s public spin.
​

more at the link

 

wow. the Washington Post has validated the story as of thirty minutes ago

Bidens’ dog bit several Secret Service agents
The White House dog, Commander, will get more training after the incidents, including one that sent an agent to the hospital.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/07/25/biden-white-house-dog-bit-agents/

excerpt:

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more at the link

 

CNN is so fetch

 

NYTimes joins the fray at 5:12 pm EDT

Bidens’ Dog Has Bitten Several Secret Service Agents, Emails Show
One agent went to the hospital after being bitten by the Bidens’ German shepherd, Commander, in a series of at least 10 incidents of “aggressive behavior.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/25/us/politics/biden-dog-commander-secret-service.html