You Saw It Here First!

On Thursday, I asked:

But someone also should be asking questions about 2018, and indeed, what services the Secret Service is now providing for Hunter, who has adopted a new, very low public profile, at Joe's behest. This man is an addict. Does Hunter now have permanent 24/7 minders? What do the minders do for him to keep him happy but out of trouble?

Apparently I'm not the only one to wonder about this. This morning, reports were making the rounds about just these questions:

Hunter Biden is renting a home in Malibu, California, for $20,000 per month — and the Secret Service is paying $30,000 per month to rent an adjacent home to provide him with 24/7 protection, according to a report Monday by ABC News.

The president’s son is living in the exclusive location and pursuing his art career, even as critics call for a special counsel to take over the investigation into his alleged influence-peddling, which is documented on his infamous laptop, now verified.

. . . The home in which Hunter Biden lives appears to be a secluded location, listed at one-tenth the value of neighboring homes, though other real estate sites put the value of the home above $3 million.

The Secret Service has been accused of covering up Hunter Biden’s allegedly wild lifestyle, as well as an allegedly unlawful gun purchase. During that purchase, Biden filled out a form declaring that he was not a drug user, during a time when he has admitted elsewhere that he was abusing drugs, thus violating the kind of law his father has vowed to enforce as a means of gun control.

I speculated at the time that Hunter, with a record of cocaine addiction and frequent visits from prostitutes, would likely need to be kept under conditions more restrictive than even ordinary house arrest. It's noteworthy that this rental follows a move from another in Venice Beach, probably at the recommendation of the Secret Service. I went to the web to get a satellite view of the property, listed at a link in the story as 20779 Big Rock Dr, Malibu, CA 90265:

It's on a cul de sac. I would imagine that the Secret Service rental is the larger house with the tile roof to its left, with a commanding view of the corner, the access road, and the driveway. I suppose I could drive by there today, and crewcut guys in Brooks Brothers casuals, sunglasses, and ear buds would be out shooing me away.

On one hand, the ordinary point of Secret Service protection would be to prevent attacks from crazies, Islamist assassins, and such against a member of the presidential family. But in Hunter's case, I'm sure there's a much wider range of undesirables that Hunter himself would seek out if he had the opportunity, drug dealers, pimps, hookers, old cronies, and such, among whom a good many would also be on the alert for ways they might blackmail Hunter and even get to the Big Guy himself.

Not to mention the potential for a high-profile DUI or even an accident where Hunter crashes into an innocent all-American family. I would bet that a key duty for the minders is to be sure the guy never, ever gets behind a wheel.

There's no mention in this morning's stories of whether his current wife, Melissa Cohen, ever pays a visit, nor the current whereabouts of the toddler Beau, which I've got to assume are not in that house. Another question is, if Hunter is held under such super-secure conditions, what sort of favors the agents have to do for him to keep him on cloud nine. I would assume there are at minimum doctors who can accommodate this with prescriptions written for names other than Hunter Biden. There have got to be at least several violations of federal law in these arrangements.

The story doesn't mention what sort of arrangements must also be in place for the Second Addict, Joe's daughter Ashley. I would assume they're equivalent.