This week, Hunter Biden took legal action against a former Trump White House aide, accusing him of playing a role in the laptop data controversy. The legal complaint, spanning 14 pages, was filed in a California federal court on Wednesday. It alleges that Garrett Ziegler, once an aide to President Donald Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro, violated California's computer fraud and data laws by accessing a substantial amount of Hunter Biden's emails, photos, videos, and recordings.
The lawsuit asserts that Ziegler and ten other unidentified defendants devoted extensive time to accessing, tampering with, altering, copying, and damaging computer data that did not belong to them. Some of this data included Hunter Biden's financial records, bank information, and credit card details, which were stored on his iPhone and backed up via iCloud. This access allegedly circumvented technical barriers designed to prevent such intrusion.
Ziegler then distributed this data, even publicizing it on his nonprofit organization's website, Marco Polo. Hunter Biden's legal team characterized Ziegler's actions as part of an extremist campaign to advance a right-wing agenda and emphasized that while he was entitled to his opinions, engaging in illegal activities was not permissible.
The lawsuit aims to secure a jury trial under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and California's Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act. These laws allow individuals to sue those who access their data without permission, with potential penalties including prison sentences and substantial fines in California.
Garrett Ziegler worked at the White House from February 2019 through January 2021. In response to the lawsuit, Ziegler dismissed it as lacking merit, stating that neither he nor his nonprofit had been formally served with a lawsuit.
The legal action is part of Hunter Biden's broader efforts to address individuals allegedly involved in the laptop data scandal that emerged during the 2020 election campaign. In March, Hunter Biden's legal team also filed a lawsuit against John Paul Mac Isaac, the Delaware computer repairman who reportedly obtained and disseminated data from Hunter's laptop in April 2019.
This lawsuit comes at a challenging time for Hunter Biden, as he recently faced the collapse of a plea deal related to misdemeanor tax offenses and a felony gun charge. Additionally, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced plans for House Republicans to initiate a formal impeachment inquiry into President Biden's alleged knowledge of his family's foreign business dealings. The Biden administration has maintained that these allegations are baseless and that the President did nothing wrong. Attorneys for Hunter Biden have not yet responded to requests for comment.
