Hunter Biden filed a lawsuit against a former Trump administration aide in California federal court Wednesday, alleging he illegally posted the contents of his “laptop from hell.”
The lawsuit accuses Garrett Ziegler, his company, and 10 unnamed defendants of improperly “accessing, tampering with, manipulating, altering, copying and damaging computer data that they do not own” in violation of the Golden State’s computer fraud laws.
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“By engaging in the conduct alleged herein, Defendants have engaged in unfair and unlawful activities in violation of the [Computer Fraud and Abuse Act] and California Penal Code section 502,” attorneys for President Joe Biden’s son wrote.
The suit focuses on what conservatives have dubbed the “laptop from hell” the younger Biden apparently left at a Wilmington, Delaware, repair shop. It was discovered by Republican operatives in the weeks before the 2020 election and has become the focal point of corruption allegations pointing to Hunter Biden.
Ziegler has said he’s uploaded content, including photos and videos, emails, text messages, and other documents from a copy of the younger Biden’s laptop obtained by his firm Marco Polo.
The suit alleges Ziegler and the 10 other co-defendants have ignored requests to stop releasing information and return it to the younger Biden, arguing such behavior showed a dedication to “continue violating the law.”
Hunter Biden wants a jury trial to determine damages and an injunction to block Ziegler from continuing to share information online about the laptop’s contents, copies of which have been shared with numerous news outlets, including the Washington Examiner.
The president’s son argued the data on the computer appears to have been manipulated both before and after Ziegler obtained it. The lawsuit contends it is “unclear” how Ziegler gained access to the laptop but notes “there is no dispute that Defendants have, to at least some extent, accessed, tampered with, manipulated, altered, copied and damaged Plaintiff’s data.”
A representative from Marco Polo sent the Washington Examiner a PDF letter with claims that the lawsuit from the younger Biden was more about “controlling the narrative and suppressing free speech than seeking genuine redress.” Marco Polo also asserts there is a “chain of custody issues” preventing it from revealing the original source of the state publications, the letter added.
“The lawsuit is intended primarily to silence or intimidate Marco Polo rather than redress a genuine grievance,” the firm stated, adding that an anti-SLAPP motion, which is often filed to dismiss meritless lawsuits against First Amendment protections, “is in order.”
The firm said that the data from Hunter Biden’s laptop was already available from other mediums by the time it published its contents online and maintains they have First Amendment protections “even if the information was obtained illegally by another party,” the letter read, citing the Washington Examiner’s previous reporting based on a copy of the younger Biden’s hard drive obtained by reporters.
Ziegler was also an aide to Peter Navarro, a former White House trade adviser for Trump who was convicted last week of contempt of Congress for failure to comply with a subpoena from the House Jan. 6 committee.
The lawsuit notes that Ziegler made an appearance on Steve Bannon’s podcast and claimed to have obtained a copy of a hard drive from an associate of the since-indicted Rudy Giuliani, the former president’s attorney facing racketeering charges with Trump and 18 others over alleged attempts to subvert the election in Georgia.
Meanwhile, the president’s son is in legal jeopardy with the federal government. Prosecutors who have engaged in a yearslong investigation against the president’s son announced last week they plan to indict Hunter Biden over outstanding tax and gun charges before the end of September.
Under a proposed plea arrangement, Hunter Biden would have pleaded guilty to not paying taxes on $1.5 million in income between 2017 and 2018 and entered into a separate deferred prosecution agreement for illegally owning a firearm while using drugs, a felony.
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Those plans broke down in July after a federal judge in Delaware rejected the proposed deal, and his lawyers said in court filings last month that prosecutors reneged on the deal, raising the stakes for a potential criminal trial as the 2024 presidential election looms.
Read the 13-page lawsuit below:
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article misstated where Ziegler said he obtained the Hunter Biden online content. The Washington Examiner regrets the error.
