Hunter Biden asks to dismiss laptop suit, citing financial hardship
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Hunter Biden at the White House in September 2024. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Hunter Biden requested Wednesday that a federal judge dismiss his lawsuit against a former Trump aide, saying financial troubles barred him from continuing to litigate the case.
Why it matters: The development could bring a swift end to yet another lawsuit related to the alleged theft of personal data from his laptop and brings to light new details about the financial strain on the former president's son.
The big picture: In a court filing Wednesday, Biden's lawyers asked U.S. District Judge Hernan D. Vera to dismiss the 2023 lawsuit against former Trump White House aide Garrett Ziegler.
- Biden has "suffered a significant downturn in his income and has significant debt in the millions of dollars range," they wrote in the filing.
- His lawyers wrote that Biden had seen "reduced book and art sales" over the past 18 months, which had previously been his primary income source.
Zoom in: The filing added that Biden's financial hardship was compounded by the Los Angeles fires this year, leaving his "rental house unlivable for an extended period of time."
- As a result, Biden has had a hard time finding a new place to live, per the filing.
- Biden "must focus his time and resources dealing with his relocation, the damage he has incurred due to the fires, and paying for his family's living expenses as opposed to this litigation," the filing noted.
What they're saying: Robert Tyler, an attorney for Ziegler, told Axios in a statement Thursday that "it's no surprise Hunter Biden's money has run dry since he no longer has the same ability to peddle influence in the White House or other halls of government."
State of play: Biden sued Ziegler in September 2023, accusing him of "accessing, tampering with, manipulating, altering, copying and damaging computer data."
- It's one of several lawsuits Biden filed concerning the dissemination of his laptop data, including against Rudy Giuliani and the owner of a Delaware computer repair shop.
- Ziegler was an aide to former Trump adviser Peter Navarro from February 2019 to January 2021, per NBC News.
Go deeper: Hunter Biden sues ex-Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne for defamation
Editor's note: This story has been updated with a statement from Robert Tyler.
