Secret Service sued for details on Hunter Biden gun saga
by Jerry Dunleavy, Justice Department Reporter |
September 22, 2022 11:56 AM
Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit this week seeking answers from the Secret Service related to the Hunter Biden gun incident in Delaware four years ago.
The conservative legal advocacy group filed its initial FOIA request in March 2021, just after reports emerged about a handgun belonging to President Joe Biden’s son getting thrown in the trash near a Delaware high school in October 2018 by his sister-in-law Hallie Biden, with whom he was in a romantic relationship.
The Secret Service has denied any involvement in responding to the incident, and after the agency declined to hand over any relevant records, Judicial Watch decided to force the issue in federal court this week.
Judicial Watch has asked the court to force the Secret Service to hand over all records related to the incident, including “all records of communications sent to and from U.S. Secret Service officials internally and with outside parties regarding the reported purchase, possession, and disposal" of the gun in Delaware in 2018.
Texts from a copy of his abandoned laptop show that Hunter berated Hallie, the widow of his brother Beau, accusing her of ruining his life after he learned she had thrown his gun in the trash.
Hunter lamented Hallie had given the impression he's “an abusive pedophile with homicidal tendencies” and said that “that’s now in the hands of the FBI.” He said police and the FBI opened an investigation into him following the saga. Other texts from Hunter also stated that the Secret Service inserted itself into the response to the incident, although the agency has denied involvement.
A lengthy text exchange between Hunter and Hallie related to the incident was located on a copy of Hunter Biden's abandoned laptop within a password-protected backup of his iPhone XS. Konstantinos "Gus" Dimitrelos, a cyber forensics expert commissioned by the Washington Examiner, located the password during his examination of the hard drive.
Hallie, who had a troubled relationship with Hunter following his brother’s death in 2015, said she found his .38-caliber revolver in his unlocked car and threw it in the garbage near Janssen’s Market in Wilmington, Delaware. When she told Hunter, he told her to retrieve it, but it was already gone. The police were soon called.
The Secret Service attempted to retrieve the gun paperwork from a Delaware shop after the firearm went missing, Politico reported. According to paperwork, Hunter falsely responded "no" to a question on the transaction record that asked, “Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance?"
Lying on the form is a felony, although the Government Accountability Office reported that such prosecutions are rare.
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/judicial-watch-sues-secret-service-hunter-biden-gun-saga
