Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, has taken legal action against Garrett Ziegler, a former member of the Trump administration, alleging violation of California’s computer fraud and data access regulations.
The core of the lawsuit pertains to the alleged unauthorized access and subsequent leak of personal data from a laptop owned by Hunter Biden. Ziegler, who previously served under Trump administration trade adviser Peter Navarro, is the primary defendant named in the lawsuit. It is believed that Ziegler, along with other unnamed co-defendants, accessed and disseminated “thousands” of emails, videos, and other data from the laptop.
Biden’s attorneys argue that after Ziegler left the White House, he spent a considerable amount of time accessing, modifying, and distributing the content from the laptop. The legal documents also allege that Ziegler made violent threats on social media against anyone attempting to serve him legal papers on Biden’s behalf, with statements threatening extreme physical harm.
Media outlet Politico has reported on Ziegler’s association with the nonprofit group, Marco Polo, through which he discussed sharing content from a hard drive believed to have belonged to Hunter Biden. When approached for a statement, Ziegler indicated to Politico that he had not been formally served with the lawsuit by the time of their report and dismissed its validity.
In a parallel development, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has urged the House to commence an investigation into President Biden’s engagements with his son Hunter and their business transactions. McCarthy clarified on X, previously known as Twitter, that this request was not politically motivated but rather an effort to address concerns from sections of the Republican Party.