Garrett Ziegler dubbed ‘thief and liar’ as California judge rules he must face lawsuit for ‘illegally accessing’ Hunter Biden’s laptop

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Former Trump White House aide Garrett Ziegler's motion to dismiss charges alleging that he hacked into Hunter Biden's laptop and posted its contents online was denied by US District Court for the Central District of California Judge Hernan Vera on Thursday, June 20.

According to Newsweek, Hunter Biden filed the suit against Ziegler alleging one federal claim for violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and two state claims for violation of California's Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act, on September 13, 2023.

The case purported that Ziegler "illegally accessed, manipulated and damaged his (Hunter Biden's) data without his authorization or consent".

What is the case against Garrett Ziegler about?

Ziegler and ICU, LLC reportedly assumed the pseudonym 'Marco Polo' in July 2021 to create a report titled, 'Report on the Biden Laptop. It was published online in October 2022, and was described by Ziegler himself as "an online searchable database of 128,000 emails found on the Biden Laptop".

Headed by the accused, Marco Polo is still functional and is described as a "nonprofit research group exposing corruption & blackmail".

In his lawsuit, Hunter Biden accused Ziegler of never obtaining consent or authorization to access any of his data, at any time or for any purpose. He alleged that Ziegler "unlawfully accessed, tampered with, manipulated, damaged, and copied thousands of emails, photos, videos, and recordings, which include financial and bank records".

Ziegler has been further accused of stealing "at least some data" originally stored on Hunter Biden's iPhone and backed up to his iCloud storage.

Garrett Ziegler's attempts to fight charges

Ziegler alluded to his First Amendment and free speech rights under California's anti-Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) statute, in order to get the charges against him dismissed.

However, it was not applicable to federal claims and was rebuked by the judge for lacking merit.

"(Hunter Biden) did not sue Defendants for creating a report or website," Judge Vera wrote.

"Defendants are being sued for 'accessing, tampering with, manipulating, altering, copying and damaging' Plaintiff's computer data," stated Judge Vera, adding, "Stated differently, the gravamen of the lawsuit is not predicated on protected speech and certainly does not arise from or rely on Defendants' free speech. The anti-SLAPP statute simply does not apply."

Ziegler wrote to Newsweek the day after his motion was dismissed, saying, "We vehemently disagree with the judge's written opinion yesterday. Litigating a case with a judge who was appointed by the plaintiff's daddy is never easy, but we will eventually prevail. All we've done is tell the truth, and no one has accused us otherwise."

Internet slams Garrett Ziegler

Ziegler was slammed by netizens for his actions, as the following comments on the Newsweek website demonstrate.

"Hunter probably did something wrong but that doesn't mean you get to go into his computer and steal data. That makes you a criminal," wrote a reader.

"So Marco Polo says It’s ok if I break into your computer, steal all of your information and post it online because I am entitled to do so using my first amendment rights. Wrong!" exclaimed another.

"Ziegler stole, making him both a thief and a liar with no ethics or integrity," stated a third.

"Like a true Trumper, Ziegler does not deny the crimes but tries to find ways to act like a victim and squirm out of it," jibed a fourth.

"Oh yeah, the First Amendment completely protects a person when they illegally access a person's personal information, and then release it to the public," mocked a fifth.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.