Secret Service Claims They Can’t Find Hunter Biden’s Travel Records for 2010, 2011, or 2013

The Secret Service is telling Republican investigators that it cannot find communications related to Hunter Biden’s travels for 2010, 2011, or 2013 — when President Joe Biden was the vice president.

Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin sent the Secret Service a letter last month seeking unredacted records tied to Hunter Biden’s travels between January 2009 and January 2017. They asked for full travel records and criticized the agency for years of “inappropriate redactions” — especially related to a controversial Kazakhstan trip in 2014. The senators also lamented that three years of documents seemed to be missing entirely.

James Murray, the director of the U.S. Secret Service, said the agency didn’t find any documents tied to the Republican requests in a letter in mid-February.

“In consultation with the Department of Homeland Security, on June 11, 2021, the Secret Service provided documents responsive to your request in accordance with law, longstanding Executive Branch practice, and Department-wide standards,” Murray wrote to the GOP. “In October 2020, the Secret Service worked extensively with your committees, and agreed to search parameters provided by your offices to identify communications regarding Mr. Biden’s travel. These search parameters did not yield communications for the years 2010, 2011, or 2013.”

Johnson and Grassley said last month they had determined that even though Hunter Biden was a Secret Service protectee from January 2009 through July 2014, the agency did not produce any communications about his travel for the years 2010, 2011, or 2013.

“[This] raises questions, given that USSS travel records show that Hunter Biden made trips to China and other destinations around the world, including, Russia, Italy, Spain, and Mexico,” they said.

GRASSLEY AND JOHNSON DEMAND HUNTER BIDEN’S FULL TRAVEL RECORDS FROM SECRET SERVICE

The Republicans have long sought access to the records on President Biden’s son and his taxpayer-funded travel while he allegedly conducted private business during Biden’s vice presidency under President Barack Obama. They have specifically zeroed in on communications between the Secret Service, Hunter Biden, and his business associates at Rosemont Seneca Partners.

Last month, the senators noted that the Secret Service had handed over 259 pages of records, but with “extensive” and improper redactions.

“These inappropriate redactions impede our offices’ ability to understand the full scope of the interactions between Hunter Biden, his associates, and the USSS,” Johnson and Grassley wrote in January. “The USSS hid names and other information contained in email conversations regarding Hunter Biden without any proper legal justification.”

Emails from Hunter Biden’s laptop previously reported by the Washington Examiner show that Hunter Biden scheduled a meeting in 2014 with Karim Massimov, then the prime minister of Kazakhstan, to discuss an energy deal with Ukrainian gas giant Burisma. Hunter Biden said he planned to ditch his Secret Service security detail before departing from Paris to Kazakhstan to discuss the deal.

Hunter Biden went on a media blitz last year to promote his memoir, Beautiful Things, during which he admitted that the laptop allegedly dropped off for repairs at a Delaware repair shop could be his, but he doesn’t remember. But he said it could have been stolen, he could have been hacked, or Russian intelligence could have been involved.

Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign, along with many in the media, dismissed the laptop story as part of a Russian disinformation operation.

Johnson and Grassley released a joint report in 2020, with much of its focus on Joe Biden’s role in helping guide the Obama administration’s Ukraine policy while Hunter Biden held a lucrative position on the board of Burisma, which the Republicans said “created an immediate potential conflict of interest.”

Burisma was an issue that former President Donald Trump raised during his controversial 2019 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which led to impeachment in the Democratic-controlled House and an acquittal in the GOP-led Senate.

Russia is currently engaged in what looks like a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

While on Burisma’s board, Biden shared a close business relationship with Massimov during his second stint as Kazakhstan’s prime minister from 2014 through 2016. Massimov was arrested in January by Kazakh authorities on allegations of treason.

The laptop emails between Biden, his Rosemont Seneca business partner and fellow Burisma board member Devon Archer, and Ukrainian Burisma official Vadym Pozharskyi show their desire to work out a deal with Massimov.

Johnson and Grassley noted that the Secret Service records “do not show whether USSS personnel or Hunter Biden traveled to Kazakhstan in May or June 2014.” Hunter Biden’s specific travel itinerary is repeatedly redacted in the emails.

In laptop emails, Biden said his Secret Service detail was annoyed when he ditched them to pursue business deals in Kazakhstan.

“Vadim — I’ve chosen to carry on from Paris without the Secret Service,” he wrote in a message dated May 26, 2014. “They are not happy about it, but it seemed far too complicated and unnecessary. Best, Hunter.”

Pozharskyi had wanted to know how many Secret Service members might be accompanying Biden to Kazakhstan.

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Earlier that month, Archer sent a message to Biden and Pozharskyi laying out his plans for the trip to Kazakhstan in late May 2014, including a birthday celebration in one Kazakh city and then a meeting with Massimov in Kazakhstan’s capital. Archer said this would be followed by a potential business trip to China’s capital to meet with members of the massive state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation.

Last month, White House press secretary Jen Psaki continued to refuse to answer basic questions about Hunter Biden’s role in a Chinese government-linked firm that has invested in companies sanctioned by the United States despite a lawyer for Joe Biden’s son saying he no longer holds his 10% ownership stake.

Hunter Biden is under a criminal investigation related to his taxes and potentially his foreign business dealings.