Taxpayers shelled out a jaw-dropping $11 million to guard Hunter Biden while the Secret Service left other political figures in the lurch, as Just the News reports. From 2022 to 2024, the Biden administration lavished funds on Hunter’s security detail, covering ritzy hotels, air travel, and even golf cart rentals for his lavish getaways. This eyebrow-raising spending spree raises serious questions about skewed priorities.
The Biden administration burned through nearly $11 million protecting Hunter Biden from Jan. 1, 2022, to Dec. 31, 2024, while denying similar safeguards to others like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Documents obtained by the Center to Advance Security in America (CASA) via a Freedom of Information Act request reveal a spending bonanza on Hunter’s travel, hotels, and transportation. The nonpartisan CASA shared these findings exclusively with The Center Square, exposing a troubling misuse of taxpayer dollars.
The Secret Service spent $9.3 million on hotels alone for Hunter’s detail, with $1.1 million more on air and rail travel. Another $600,000 went to car rentals and transportation, ensuring Hunter’s comfort on trips to Nantucket, South Africa, and the Virgin Islands. While Hunter jetted around, the Secret Service claimed it was strapped for cash and staff in July 2024.
Hunter’s Thanksgiving trips to Nantucket in 2022 and 2023 were particularly pricey. The 2022 trip cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands, including $120,000 for lodging at $740 per night and $10,000 for golf cart rentals. The 2023 trip escalated to over $500,000, with $198,000 spent on Faraway Nantucket lodging and $26,000 on ferries.
Other expenses included $133,500 for White Elephant Hotel and $60,000 for the Nantucket Inn during the 2023 Thanksgiving trip. Hunter reportedly stayed at the estate of Democratic donor Joe Kiani during these Nantucket visits. The Biden family’s habit of vacationing at donor properties, like private equity billionaire David Rubenstein’s Nantucket compound, reeks of cronyism.
A New Year’s trip to St. Croix in 2023 cost taxpayers $372,000 for real estate and another $372,000 for travel cards. Hunter and his wife, Melissa Cohen, racked up $18,000 for a two-day Santa Barbara trip and $170,000 for a two-day Wilmington, Delaware, visit. A single night in Arlington, Virginia, set taxpayers back $10,000.
While Hunter enjoyed robust protection, the Secret Service denied coverage to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose father and uncle were assassinated. The agency also failed to adequately protect then-candidate Donald Trump, leading to two assassination attempts. Congressional investigations have since uncovered chronic understaffing and lapses in Secret Service protocols.
“Due to reports that Hunter Biden was playing a senior role in advising his father within the White House in 2024, CASA filed a FOIA request,” said CASA Director James Fitzpatrick. He noted that while Hunter traveled in style, Kennedy and Trump were left vulnerable. This stark contrast suggests a deliberate misallocation of resources.
Fitzpatrick also remarked, “If the Biden Secret Service was truly low on funding and staffing as they claimed in July 2024, the American people deserve answers as to why their priorities were so grossly misaligned.” His words cut to the core of the issue: why prioritize Hunter’s luxury trips over genuine security needs? The Biden administration’s choices seem indefensible.
A 2023 trip to Santa Ynez, California, cost $650,000 for six hotels, while a Biden family day trip to New York City hit $250,000 for 13 hotels. These extravagant expenditures, mostly in California, where Hunter often resided, accounted for 95% of the total costs. Taxpayers deserve better than footing the bill for such opulence.
The Biden family’s cozy ties with Democratic Party donors raise further red flags. They rang in the New Year in 2023 at the U.S. Virgin Islands home of donors Bill and Connie Neville, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. This pattern of leveraging donor properties for vacations smacks of elitism and privilege.
“Biden and his family have made a habit of vacationing at the homes of donors to the Democratic Party,” the Times noted. This practice, while legal, fuels perceptions of a rigged system favoring connected insiders. The Secret Service’s role in enabling these trips only deepens the scandal.
CASA’s Fitzpatrick called the spending “a significant departure from the typical norms surrounding Secret Service protection coverage.” His assessment underscores how Hunter’s detail deviates from standard practice. Protecting the president’s son is one thing; bankrolling his lavish lifestyle is another.
An inspector general report highlighted chronic Secret Service issues, including understaffed counter-snipers and agents missing mandatory weapons training. Overtime workloads equivalent to 24 full-time employees further strained resources. Yet, Hunter’s detail never seemed to lack funding or manpower.
The American public deserves transparency on why Hunter Biden’s security took precedence over others. CASA’s FOIA request, filed in June under the Trump administration, exposed a troubling misuse of taxpayer funds. It’s time for accountability, not more excuses from an administration that prioritizes family perks over public safety.
