The U.S. Secret Service appears to have been caught trying to cover up Hunter Biden's alleged gun crime.

The Daily Mail reports that this information comes from documents that have been released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

This regards the same gun crime for which Hunter Biden is currently on trial. He stands accused of lying about his drug use on the form that he submitted to obtain the firearm. This was back in October 2018.

The big question is what the Secret Service was doing for Hunter Biden in 2018 - before his dad became president. Last time we checked, the sons of ex-vice presidents don't get Secret Service protection.

Here's what we know so far:

It is possible that you have heard of this story before. Previously, there were reports indicating that members of the Secret Service showed up at the Delaware gun store following the incident.

Now, however, we have access to the interview that the gun store's owner - Ron Palimere - did with the FBI.

The Daily Mail reports:

But now the owner of the Wilmington StarQuest Shooters gun store, Ron Palimere, has given the FBI an interview, under penalty of criminal prosecution, testifying that USSS agents showed up in October 2018 and demanded he hand over the form Hunter filled out to purchase the gun.

Palimere refused to hand the document over.

The importance of this cannot be overstated.

Why was the Secret Service after this document?

If you have been following the ongoing Hunter Biden trial, then you already know the answer: it is because this document is the very basis of the crime for which Hunter Biden has been charged.

Hunter Biden has been accused, by the prosecution, of lying about his drug use on this form, and lying about your drug use on a form to obtain a firearm is a crime for which people have gone to jail.

Given this, one can only surmise that the Secret Service was trying to get the document to cover up the alleged crime that Hunter Biden committed. It is very likely that, if Palimere gave the Secret Service the document, Hunter Biden would not now be facing up to 25 years in prison.

At this point, it is perhaps worth emphasizing that neither Hunter Biden nor Joe Biden had the right to Secret Service protection in 2018. Ex-vice presidents, unlike ex-presidents, do not get Secret Service protection.

The Secret Service has not, at the time of this writing, released a statement on the matter.