Letter to James Murray, Director US Secret Service - Sens. Johnson, Grassley Demand Secret Service Fully Comply with Requests for Hunter Biden's Travel Records

Letter

Dear Director Murray:

We write to you today regarding U.S. Secret Service (USSS) records involving Hunter Biden and his use of government-sponsored travel while he conducted private business. We previously requested that the USSS provide all records among and between USSS, Hunter Biden, Katie Dodge, or Joan Mayer regarding Hunter Biden's travel while his father was Vice President.[1] To date, the USSS has produced 259 pages of documents pursuant to our requests; however, we have serious concerns about the production.[2]

First, the USSS's production contains extensive Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) redactions, which do not apply to Congress and should not be applied to this production. These inappropriate redactions impede our offices' ability to understand the full scope of the interactions between Hunter Biden, his associates, and the USSS. For example, in applying the redactions, the USSS hid names and other information contained in email conversations regarding Hunter Biden without any proper legal justification. Specifically, in a May 23, 2014, email chain, a redacted individual on then-Vice President Biden's Detail (VPD) emailed a redacted individual at Hunter Biden's business, Rosemont Seneca Partners, about Hunter Biden's upcoming travel plans to travel from Paris, France to Kazakhstan.[3] The VPD asked the individual at Rosemont Seneca Partners, "if there will be room on the private flight for at least [redacted] of our guys (preferably [redacted] we would greatly appreciate it."[4] The USSS records that we previously made public show that Hunter Biden was in Paris, France from May 29, 2014 to June 7, 2014 while a protectee.[5] The USSS records do not show whether USSS personnel or Hunter Biden traveled to Kazakhstan in May or June 2014.

Second, we determined that even though Hunter Biden was a USSS protectee from January 2009 through July 2014, the USSS did not produce any communications regarding Hunter Biden's travel for the years 2010, 2011, and 2013.[6] The USSS's lack of communications during these years 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.[7]

In order to better understand the USSS's communications with Hunter Biden and his associates while his father served as Vice President, we respectfully request the following information:

Unredacted copies of the attached 259 pages of documents.
An explanation for why the USSS did not provide any communication records for the years of 2010, 2011, and 2013.
Please provide this information as soon as possible but no later than January 26, 2022.

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