Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, has launched a high-stakes legal battle against former Trump White House aide Garrett Ziegler. The lawsuit centers on the publication of private photos, emails, and other materials allegedly sourced from a hard drive purportedly belonging to Hunter Biden.
What Ziegler did
Ziegler, a notable figure in the ongoing effort to scrutinize Hunter Biden’s past, has operated a website dedicated to exposing various aspects of his life. This website hosts a treasure trove of information, including photographs, text messages, emails, and documents, all claimed to be from the president’s son.
The 13-page lawsuit filed by Hunter Biden’s legal team alleges that Ziegler and others violated both federal and California privacy laws. According to the lawsuit, they did so by “accessing, tampering with, manipulating, altering, copying, and damaging computer data” gathered from Hunter Biden’s alleged laptop and iPhone cloud storage without his consent.
Hunter Biden’s lawyers claim that these defendants have ignored requests to “cease their unlawful activity” and return the private data belonging to the president’s son.
Ziegler, however, remains defiant. In a statement to CBS News, he responded, “I nor the nonprofit, Marco Polo, have been served with a lawsuit — but the one I read this morning out of the Central District of California should embarrass Winston & Strawn LLP. It’s not worth the paper it’s written on.” Ziegler further emphasized that laws and regulations protect authors like him and the publishing activities conducted by Marco Polo.
The lawsuit raises the specter of a SLAPP suit, short for a “strategic lawsuit against public participation,” referring to a California law designed to penalize those who file lawsuits intended to stifle free speech and the right to petition the government.
In this latest lawsuit, Hunter Biden is seeking a jury trial, damages, an injunction to prevent unauthorized access or tampering with his data, and the return of any materials obtained unlawfully. As the legal battle unfolds, it promises to be a significant chapter in the ongoing saga of Hunter Biden’s controversial past and the broader debate over the boundaries of privacy and free speech in the digital age.
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