Hunter Biden and Joe Biden (File Photo) Former US President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden has asked a federal judge to drop his “laptop hacking lawsuit” against a former Donald Trump White House aide, citing financial struggles amounting to “millions of dollars in debt”, further aggravated by the loss of his Los Angeles home in wildfires, making it challenging to continue the legal battle.In legal documents submitted to a federal court in California, Hunter Biden’s legal team requested US District Judge Hernan D. Vera to dismiss the 2023 case against Garrett Ziegler.According to the New York Post, his attorneys argued that “Hunter has suffered a significant downturn in his income and has significant debt in the millions of dollars range.”The filing indicates his monetary challenges were further complicated by the Pacific Palisades wildfires in January, which reportedly rendered his rented accommodation uninhabitable.”Like many others in that situation, I am having difficulty in finding a new permanent place to live,” he continued in the motion.”While I was aware that my financial position had significantly deteriorated over time, it was not until the past month that I realized I had to take drastic actions to alleviate this situation,” he added.Hunter attributed his financial difficulties to reduced income from his artistic endeavours and his 2021 publication, “Beautiful Things”.”In the 2 to 3 years prior to December 2023, I sold 27 pieces for art at an average price of $54,481.48, but since then I have only sold 1 piece of art for $36,000,” he stated in the motion.”Similarly, for my book sales, in the six month period before the statements (April 1, 2023 through September 30, 2023), based on the September 30, 2023 statement, 3,161 copies of my book were sold, but in the six months after the statements, only approximately 1,100 books were sold,” he said.”Given the positive feedback and reviews of my artwork and memoir, I was expecting to obtain paid speaking engagements and paid appearances, but that has not happened,” he added.What is Hunter Biden’s laptop hacking lawsuitThe lawsuit, originally filed in 2023, accused Ziegler of illegally accessing and distributing private content from Hunter’s infamous laptop through his website, Marco Polo.Ziegler, a former aide to Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro, has published extensive data from the laptop, following its initial exposure by the New York Post in October 2020.The Post reported that the laptop—allegedly abandoned at a Delaware repair shop—contained emails, documents, and personal materials implying that Biden engaged in questionable overseas business dealings, including ties to Ukrainian and Chinese entities.Biden’s lawsuit claims that Ziegler and others violated computer fraud and data privacy laws by unlawfully accessing and distributing “tens of thousands of emails, thousands of photos, and dozens of videos and recordings” from the device.In addition to his lawsuit against Ziegler, Hunter remained embroiled in legal battles with John Paul Mac Isaac, the Delaware computer repair shop owner at the center of the laptop controversy.However, in his latest court filing, Hunter indicated that due to his mounting financial struggles he is reassessing all ongoing litigation “on a case-by-case basis” to allocate his limited resources effectively.
Hunter Biden asks judge to drop ‘laptop lawsuit’ against ex-Trump aide, citing ‘millions in debt’
