Two Republican senators are demanding answers after the Secret Service refused to hand over details about Hunter Biden's trips to Kazakhstan, Russia and China.
Biden, now 51, was granted Secret Service protection while his father was vice president from 2009-17 - although he requested it cease in July 2014.
At the time, he was a globe-trotting businessman, and Senators Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Chuck Grassley of Iowa are investigating Biden for 'his use of government-sponsored travel while he conducted private business.'
The senators have requested documents relating to Biden's travel, and so far have received 259 pages from the Secret Service. But in a letter to director James Murray, they said that they 'have serious concerns about the production'.
They note that the pages are heavily redacted, which they say is unnecessary for members of Congress, and they complained that they were missing entire years - 2010, 2011 and 2013.
Furthermore, one email shows members of the Secret Service detail requesting information about Biden's plan in May-June 2014 to travel from Paris to Kazakhstan, and asking if they can accompany him.
It is unclear whether Biden ever went to Kazakhstan. The travel logs, the senators say, do not mention the trip.
Chuck Grassley (left) and Ron Johnson, both Republican senators, are seeking information about Hunter Biden's travel on private business while protected by the Secret Service
Hunter Biden, embracing his father in November 2020, had Secret Service protection from 2009-14
Last year, it was reported that Biden decided to leave his Secret Service bodyguards before flying to Kazakhstan to pursue a deal on behalf of the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, on whose board he sat and was paid $50,000 a month.
Biden reportedly planned to meet with then-Kazakhstan Prime Minister Karim Massimov, who was arrested on treason charges Saturday following his ouster as head of the country's counterintelligence and anti-terror agency.
An undated photo shared by the Kazhakhstani Initiative on Asset Recovery in 2019 showed Hunter and his father with Massimov and his son at a Washington DC restaurant.
The senators also note that, during the 'missing' years, Biden was known to visit China, Russia, Mexico, Spain and Italy.
Hunter Biden (third from left) poses with a number of Chinese executives in 2010, while his father was serving as vice president
Hunter Biden is seen with his father in December 2013 during a visit to Beijing
In 2013, one of the missing years, Biden was photographed touring Chinese factories and offices, touting for business for his investment firms and interests.
Biden stopped the Secret Service protection in July 2014, shortly after Time magazine published an article highlighting his financial ties to Burisma Holdings, the Ukrainian natural gas conglomerate.
A report by the Senate Homeland Security Committee released in September 2020 indicates he took 411 domestic and international flights upon which the federal government provided security between June 2009 and July 2014.
Secret Service flight logs show that Hunter Biden traveled to at least 29 foreign countries, including one trip to Russia and five visits to China, respectively.
Biden now lives in Los Angeles with his South African-born wife Melissa and their son.
In the case of the president’s immediate family, the agency is required by law to provide round-the-clock security unless it is told not to.
Few have declined Secret Service protection, although for an adult with an independent life it can be a challenge.
Hunter, with wife Melissa and their son, lives in Los Angeles
All immediate family of the president-elect and vice president-elect can have protection
All of Donald Trump's children have accepted Secret Service protection - although Donald Trump Jr, 42, briefly rejected it.
In September 2017 Trump Jr, an avid camper and hunter, was reported to have said he no longer wanted their protection as he was seeking more privacy than he could expect with a contingent of agents accompanying him everywhere.
Less than a month later, he took it again for unspecified reasons, and with the Secret Service refusing to confirm any details.
George W. Bush's daughters Jenna and Barbara both received Secret Service protection for his time in office, but they were in their mid-20s when he left in January 2009.
George H.W. Bush's five adult children did not receive protection when he was in the White House.
When his father was in the White House, Hunter Biden received protection for some of the time - including when he tested positive for cocaine.
Agents are not supposed to stop their charges from wrongdoing, but inevitably buying drugs with agents on hand is challenging.
Ronald Reagan Jr. was the most high-profile first son to reject protection, in his father's second term.
The Secret Service is authorized to protect the president, the vice president, the president-elect and vice president-elect, and their immediate families.
Former presidents and their spouses are given protection, except when the spouse re-marries.
In 1965, Congress authorized the Secret Service to protect a former president and his or her spouse during their lifetime, unless they decline protection.
Children of former presidents are protected until the age of 16.
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