A former aide to President Donald Trump involved in a civil lawsuit filed by Hunter Biden is asking the judge to toss the case.
Former Trump aide Garrett Ziegler filed a motion for a federal judge in the Central District of California to dismiss the case due to its basis in “half-baked legal challenges.”
“Plaintiff alleges no facts which demonstrate Defendants ever accessed any computer, storage, or service which Plaintiff either owns or has exclusive control over,” the motion filed by Ziegler’s attorneys reads.
Ziegler’s attorneys also claim that their client’s posts sharing the contents of the laptop “constitutes protected activity because it involves a public figure and is a matter of public importance.”
Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, is seen after making a statement during a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol about testifying publicly to the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles, accuses Ziegler and his company — Marco Polo USA — and 10 unidentified associates of spreading “tens of thousands of emails, thousands of photos, and dozens of videos and recordings” from the laptop that were considered “pornographic.”
Ziegler’s legal team alleges that Biden’s lawsuit is “aimed at chilling the valid exercise of the constitutional rights of freedom of speech.”
FBI AGENT INVOLVED IN HUNTER BIDEN PROBE DOES NOT BELIEVE POLITICS WERE INVOLVED
A courtroom sketch depicting Hunter Biden in a federal courtroom in Wilmington, Delaware. (William J. Hennessy, Jr.)
In the 14-page civil complaint, Biden’s attorneys allege that Ziegler is a “zealot” who has unleashed a “sustained, unhinged and obsessed campaign” against the entire Biden family for over two years and “spent countless hours accessing, tampering with, manipulating, altering, copying and damaging computer data” with his associates.
“While Defendant Ziegler is entitled to his extremist and counterfactual opinions, he has no right to engage in illegal activities to advance his right-wing agenda,” attorneys Abbe Lowell, Bryan Sullivan, Zachary Hansen and Paul Salvaty previously wrote.
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Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, talks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, on Wednesday, December 13, 2023. He lashed out at Republican investigators who have been digging into his business dealings, insisting outside the Capitol that he will only testify before a congressional committee in public. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
In the motion to dismiss, Ziegler’s legal representation also questions the existence of a connection between their client and the state of California. The attorneys claim this would invalidate the jurisdiction of the state where the lawsuit was filed.
Hunter Biden is currently facing nine criminal counts in the same California court where he has filed three civil lawsuits.
The president’s son is also currently suing Rudy Giuliani and lawyer Robert Costello for illegally accessing his laptop computer, and former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne for defamation.
Fox News’ Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.