The Secret Service’s assertions that agents meddled in the Hunter Biden gun case have prompted fresh inquiries this week regarding an otherwise benign court document.
Blaze News revealed days before the 2020 election that in October 2018, Hunter Biden bought a.38 caliber handgun from StarQuest Shooters & Survival Supply in Delaware, while Secret Service officials were present. During the transaction, Hunter allegedly falsely claimed to be a drug user on an ATF 4473 form.
“The Biden family was not under the protection of the Secret Service at that time.”
Five months after, Politico verified the allegation from Blaze News.
Politico, citing sources with “firsthand accounts of the case,” reported that Secret Service officials approached Ron Palimere, the owner of the gun store, about two weeks after Hunter’s handgun transaction, asking for the sale’s documentation.
The Secret Service denied any role in the incident at the time.
Before Hunter’s trial next month, more than three years after, special counsel David Weiss filed fresh evidentiary documents. Weiss is getting ready to charge the first son for lying on the ATF form.
The file contains the transcript of a May 16 interview that Palimere had with FBI agents and prosecutors.
Palimere admitted to the investigators during the interview that on October 12, 2018, when Hunter Biden walked into StarQuest, he recognized him as a “celebrity-type customer.” Palimere claimed he wanted to close the deal as soon as possible because he knew Hunter’s father, former Vice President Joe Biden, did not support guns and thought it would hurt his business to have Biden in the store.
It is worth noting that Palimere also disclosed that Hunter identified himself during the transaction by presenting his passport. This was “strange,” according to the FBI interview, because “usually sales are done with a driver’s license.”
The strangeness didn’t stop there, either.
Palimere said that the Delaware Police and the U.S. Secret Service made separate trips to StarQuest on October 24, 2018, around two weeks later.
According to the FBI interview, “both agencies asked the exact same questions, and it seemed they were not aware of the other’s investigations.”
Palimere told investigators that he sought advice from ATF special agent James Reisch because he was uncomfortable with the Secret Service’s demand for the ATF form. Reisch instructed Palimere to hold off on turning over the form until it was absolutely necessary.
The form was annotated by Palimere, and the ATF seized it three years later. He informed the FBI that, contrary to standard procedure, he did not personally contact Hunter Biden to annotate it.
Palimere gave two reasons for not wanting to get in touch with Hunter. This would have indicated Hunter was under investigation. Palimere was terrified, too.
The FBI interview transcript clarifies:
“The episode drew a lot of attention at the time and was considered a major scandal. Every news channel carried it during prime time, and USSS claimed they had never entered StarQuest. Palimere and the other staff members learned of Mac Isaac’s placement in protective custody. They were all quite afraid. Palimere believed they would be in danger just by opposing Biden, therefore, he thought it was important to annotate Form 4473.”
