(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The Secret Service has claimed it destroyed video evidence of President Joe Biden’s dog, Commander, brutally attacking one of its agents.
The disturbing attack led to the agent’s blood being splattered on the floor, temporarily shutting down White House tours, reported the Daily Mail on Tuesday.
According to an email obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, the Secret Service mentioned the existence of a video of the attack, which reportedly occurred on June 15, 2023.
“The video purportedly showed Commander running at a high rate of speed and jumping toward the agent in the East Wing’s Kennedy Garden, leaving a ‘deep bite’ on the individual’s left arm ‘that reportedly needed stitches,’” the Mail reported, citing the alleged email.
The violent attack prompted White House tours to be halted for roughly 20 minutes until the blood was cleaned from the floor in the booksellers’ area.
On Friday, Secret Service Public Liaison Kevin Tyrrell told the Mail that the video had been conveniently “destroyed” due to the agency’s so-called retention standards.
Echoing Tyrrell’s claims, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told the Mail that the Secret Service follows the “federal records retention schedule that defines when certain types of records can be archived, destroyed, etc.”
Guglielmi added that he had no “direct knowledge” of the infamous video and claimed, “Based on that response, I am assuming the record in question is no longer available because of the expiration of record retention.”
News of the video’s destruction comes less than a year after the White House was rocked by scandals involving multiple biting incidents perpetrated by the president’s dog.
Commander had subjected White House aides to at least 25 incidents. Biden’s other dog, Major, also subjected Secret Service agents to several incidents.
A Secret Service agent described the harrowing experience in an email dated May 2023.
“Just for situational awareness. It seems that we’re back to the K9 being let off leash to roam the grounds freely,” the agent, whose name was redacted in the email, warns others in the email. “Tonight we had the team on the roadway for the evening sweep when [redacted] brought the dog out. K9 ran directly south and bounced between us techs.”
The agent added, “Though no one was bitten it’s just a matter of time before it happens.”
