Hunter Biden Ends Lawsuit Against Former Trump Aide Due to Financial Difficulties
Hunter Biden has officially asked a federal judge to dismiss his lawsuit against Garrett Ziegler, a former aide to President Donald Trump. In his court filing, Biden cited financial hardship as the main reason he could not continue pursuing the case.
The lawsuit was originally filed in 2023 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Biden had accused Ziegler of unlawfully accessing and publishing data allegedly taken from a laptop said to belong to him. Ziegler is known for posting large amounts of data from the laptop online through his website.
In documents submitted to the court, Biden’s legal team stated that he lacks the financial resources to continue the litigation. His attorneys outlined a downturn in income and cited substantial personal expenses as key obstacles. According to the filing, Biden no longer earns a stable income and has experienced difficulty maintaining housing after a wildfire destroyed his rented home in Malibu earlier this year.
The filing also disclosed a sharp decline in revenue from both his art and his memoir. From 2021 to late 2023, Biden sold 27 pieces of artwork at an average price of around $54,000. Since then, he has sold only one piece, reportedly for $36,000. His book sales also dropped from more than 3,000 copies over a six-month period to just over 1,000 copies in the next half-year.
The presiding judge granted Biden’s request to dismiss the case. However, the dismissal was made with prejudice, meaning the lawsuit cannot be refiled in the future. The court found that allowing the case to be reopened would place the defendant at a legal disadvantage, as key elements of the defense had already been shared.
Garrett Ziegler served in the Trump administration under White House trade adviser Peter Navarro. The data he published from the laptop became the focus of legal action over alleged privacy and computer-related violations.
This case was one of multiple legal efforts by Hunter Biden to challenge the dissemination of material believed to have been taken from his devices. With the dismissal now granted, the matter involving Ziegler is formally concluded.
