New lawsuit seeks to compel ATF to provide FOIA requested information in Hunter Biden gun case

A gun-right advocate and journalist has filed a complaint with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives seeking "injunctive and other appropriate relief" in connection with the federal investigation on Hunter Biden and the handgun that he allegedly owns.

The complaint was filed on behalf of advocate-journalist David Cordrea and reported first by Ammoland.com, for which Cordrea writes, is in response to the ATF's refusal to provide records requested in a Freedom of Information Act that sought to uncover details of Biden's potentially illegal handling of a firearm. 

Hunter Biden is the son of President Biden. 

Codrea writes, "To recap the story so far, Biden’s handgun was reportedly taken from his vehicle by his brother’s widow with whom he was having an affair and she threw it away in the trash outside a Delaware supermarket."

It is unclear whether Biden broke the law by denying that he abused controlled substances on his Firearm Transaction Record. It is a felony offense to lie on the ATF form and Biden has a well-documented (self-documented, by way of his recently published memoir) history of substance abuse. 

The initial FOIA request was turned down due to what the agency cited as "substantial privacy interests." And, according to Codrea, the Justice Department has now turned down his attorney's appeal of the ATF's decision. 

Separately, the Secret Service responded to a FOIA requested with an affidavit signed under penalty of perjury that the agency was unable to fund any response records to the alleged incident. 

The complaint filed by Codrea's attorney reads: "Producing these documents would serve to shed light on the performance of ATF’s statutory duties in prosecuting illegal firearm crime, including  ... the reasons why some persons are not prosecuted; and among other things, the unequal application of firearms laws to certain well-connected individuals."