Secret Service agents protecting Hunter Biden at his Malibu mansion spent more than $4.5million in taxpayer funds in a year while they kept round-the-clock watch, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.
More than $2.8 million in transactions were recorded on a government credit card and $1.12 million was spent on a variety of expenses including hotel rooms between 2021 and 2022, according to newly-obtained records.
DailyMail.com obtained the list of financial transactions through a Freedom of Information Act request.
It showed $632,071 was spent on rental cars used by the agents keeping an eye on the president’s scandal-plagued son while he was staying at a $20,000-a-month property.
Secret Service agents protecting Hunter Biden at his Malibu mansion spent more than $4.5million in taxpayer funds in a year while they kept round-the-clock watch, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal. The president’s son is seen with a member of his detail in 2023
At the time, the presidential bodyguards were splashing out $30,000-a-month to rent a property next door to Hunter’s, where he was living with wife Melissa Cohen and son Beau.
The Spanish-style sea view villa had six bedrooms, a pool, tasting room, gym, spa, built-in BBQ and ‘castle-like tower’. It was valued at $6million.
It took the Secret Service two years to produce the records to Dailymail.com. In that time, Hunter’s legal troubles have dominated the headlines.
He is facing facing a federal tax indictment and on Friday a judge threw out a bid to toss charges he lied about his drug addiction when he bought a gun – a saga the Secret Service was involved in.
The records cover a 16-month period between February 2021 and June 2022.
The total spent over that time frame was $4,596,747 – that does not include the salaries of the agents which are also footed by taxpayers.
![Presidential bodyguards were splashing out $30,000-a-month to rent a property next door to Hunter’s, where he was living with wife Melissa Cohen and son Beau](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/04/13/19/83595617-13298781-image-a-15_1713031670178.jpg)
Presidential bodyguards were splashing out $30,000-a-month to rent a property next door to Hunter’s, where he was living with wife Melissa Cohen and son Beau
![Secret Service home: The Spanish-style sea view villa had six bedrooms, a pool, tasting room, gym, spa, built-in BBQ and 'castle-like tower'. It was valued at $6million](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/04/13/18/83595625-13298781-image-a-14_1713029490966.jpg)
Secret Service home: The Spanish-style sea view villa had six bedrooms, a pool, tasting room, gym, spa, built-in BBQ and ‘castle-like tower’. It was valued at $6million
Some receipts were included in the documents including for items, which were redacted, from Home Depot, Best Buy, Staples and Amazon.
There were two orders – one of $1,930 and another for $1,658.43 – from a video and camera store in New York.
It was not clear why a shop in New York was used when the agents when Hunter Biden was being protected on the west coast.
One of the camera shop orders being claimed for by agents was marked ‘exterior materials’.
Other expenses included $145 spent at Home Depot ion Venice, California, and $40 at an Amazon Hub locker located in a Ross Dress For Less budget clothing store, also in Venice.
![In August 2023, Hunter and wife Cohen moved into a new $15,800-a-month home, as DailyMail.com exclusively reported at the time. The couple are pictured in July win son Beau](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/04/13/19/83595481-13298781-image-a-21_1713033090016.jpg)
In August 2023, Hunter and wife Cohen moved into a new $15,800-a-month home, as DailyMail.com exclusively reported at the time. The couple are pictured in July win son Beau
Another claim was $132 for five hours of parking at Reagan National Airport just outside Washington D.C.
A receipt for a stay at the Marriott hotel in Marina del Rey, not far from Malibu, cost $1,132.47 is ALSO included in the tranche of documents.
It Is unclear how many agents stayed there and how long for.
The spending records begin a month after Hunter’s father Joe Biden was inaugurated as president, when members of the first family would have been given a full security detail.
A property listing for the Secret Service pad where the spending occurred describes ‘picturesque gardens’, a ‘sunken living room arching around a huge fireplace’ and ‘hand carved doors, artisan tiles, [and] antique style bar with stained glass inlay’.
![A property listing for the Secret Service pad where the spending occurred describes 'picturesque gardens', a 'sunken living room arching around a huge fireplace'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/04/13/19/83595627-13298781-image-a-16_1713031769340.jpg)
A property listing for the Secret Service pad where the spending occurred describes ‘picturesque gardens’, a ‘sunken living room arching around a huge fireplace’
The realtor described it as ‘A Magical Mediterranean Resort Style Home with Ocean Views.’
It was originally built in 1958 for actress Linda Lavin – star of the 1970s sitcom Alice.
‘With many outstanding performances, Linda Lavin made this home a perfect reflection of her talent,’ the gushing realtor said.
The records end in June 2022 which means a similar amount could have been spent in the 18 months since then.
When asked about the records, a Secret Service spokesman said the agency does not go into details about spending and operational procedures.
‘The primary mission of the United States Secret Service is to safeguard the continuity of the American government’, the spokesman told DailyMail.com
‘We do this by employing advanced protective methodology that includes the use of sophisticated technology and highly trained special agents and mission support teams to be with our protectees and their families.
![The gates to the Malibu home where Hunter's Secret Service detail lived while protecting him between 2021 and 2022](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/04/13/19/83595063-13298781-image-m-27_1713033189893.jpg)
The gates to the Malibu home where Hunter’s Secret Service detail lived while protecting him between 2021 and 2022
‘For operational security reasons, the Secret Service does not discuss the specific means, methods, resources, or costs used to conduct these protective responsibilities.
In August 2023, Hunter and wife Cohen moved into a new $15,800-a-month home, as DailyMail.com exclusively reported at the time.
His Secret Service detail had to follow him, and set up residence at a $16,000-a-month home across the street with ocean views and a hot tub.
Secret Service agents have previously had their work cut out for them providing protection for President Joe Biden’s wayward son.
Texts from Hunter’s laptop in 2018 show a recently retired senior USSS officer came close to breaking down Hunter’s hotel room door to check on him after he failed to come out, following a days-long drug and alcohol-fueled binge with hookers.
And the same year when Hunter’s sister-in-law and former lover Hallie Biden dumped his pistol in a supermarket trash can in Wilmington, Delaware, Secret Service agents allegedly intervened in the ensuing police investigation.
Biden’s family isn’t the first that has landed taxpayers with huge bills for protecting their families.
USSS requested an extra $60 million to pay for the protection of Donald Trump and his family in the first year of his presidency according to agency documents obtained by the Washington Post.
Trump was criticized for charging the agency to house agents protecting him and his family at Trump hotels and properties around the world, including $650 per night for a room at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club and $17,000 a month for a cottage at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey.
President Biden also rented out his Delaware cottage to agents for $2,200 per month while they protected him, federal records show.
A trip by the Obama family to Martha’s Vineyard in 2016 cost the Secret Service $2.7 million, including $2.5 million in hotels and $90,000 in rental cars.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk