New court document raises serious questions about Secret Service involvement in Hunter Biden gun case: 'All scared to death'

An otherwise innocuous court filing is raising new questions this week over the Secret Service's denials that agents inserted themselves into the Hunter Biden gun case.

Days before the 2020 election, Blaze News reported that Secret Service agents visited the Delaware gun shop — StarQuest Shooters & Survival Supply — where Hunter Biden purchased a .38 caliber handgun in October 2018. During that transaction, Hunter allegedly lied on an ATF 4473 form about being a drug user.

'At that time, the Biden family were not protectees of the Secret Service.'

Five months later, Politico confirmed Blaze News' report.

Citing sources with "firsthand knowledge of the episode," Politico reported that Secret Service agents approached the gun store owner, Ron Palimere, about two weeks after Hunter's firearm transaction, requesting the paperwork involved in the sale.

At the time, the Secret Service denied any involvement in the incident.

More than three years later, special counsel David Weiss — who is preparing to prosecute the first son for allegedly lying on that ATF form — filed new evidentiary documents ahead of Hunter's trial next month.

Included in the paperwork is an interview between Palimere, FBI agents, and federal prosecutors that took place on May 16.

During the interview, Palimere told investigators that he recognized Hunter Biden as a "celebrity-type customer" when he entered StarQuest on Oct. 12, 2018. Because he knew that Hunter's father, then former Vice President Joe Biden, was not a gun supporter, Palimere said he wanted to complete the sale as quickly as possible, believing that having a Biden in the store would be bad for his business.

Interestingly, Palimere also revealed that Hunter presented his passport during the transaction as his identification. The FBI interview noted this was "unusual" because "most sales are completed with a driver's license."

But the weird didn't end there.

About two weeks later, Palimere said both the Delaware State Police and the Secret Service came to StarQuest on the same day — Oct. 24, 2018 — in separate visits.

"Both agencies asked the same questions and it appeared they were not aware of each other's investigations," the FBI interview revealed.

Palimere told investigators that he felt uneasy about the Secret Service's request for the ATF form, so he reached out to ATF special agent James Reisch for counsel. Reisch told Palimere not to turn over the form unless he felt compelled to comply.

Three years later, the ATF took custody of the form, which Palimere had annotated. He told the FBI he did not reach out to Hunter Biden to annotate it himself, which would have been routine practice.

Palimere explained that he did not want to contact Hunter for two reasons. First, it would have revealed that Hunter was under investigation. Second, Palimere was scared.

The FBI interview document explains:

At the time it was a big scandal and there was intense attention on the incident. It was on prime time on every news channel and USSS was saying they never went into StarQuest. Palimere and the other employees heard that Mac Isaac of the computer store was in protective custody. They were all scared to death. Palimere felt it was necessary to annotate the Form 4473 because he felt they were going to get in trouble just for going up against Biden.

Palimere's assertion of the Secret Service agents' involvement and their visit to his store raises important questions.

What interest did the Secret Service allegedly have in the transaction? Even more important, why would agents have had any interest in Hunter Biden's firearm transaction records when the agency was not providing protection to any member of the Biden family at the time?

Importantly, Palimere told his story under the possibility of criminal penalty. Lying to federal investigators is a serious crime.

Despite the allegations, the Secret Service is doubling down on its previous denials.

"There is no change in our statement," said Anthony Guglielmi, chief of communications for the Secret Service. "We were aware of the claims made at that time but could not find any information to independently corroborate them. At that time, the Biden family were not protectees of the Secret Service."

Hunter's trial is scheduled to begin on June 3.

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