Hunter Biden Cites Financial Hardship in Plea to Drop Lawsuit Against Former Trump Aide
Facing mounting debt and dwindling income, Hunter Biden is asking a federal judge to dismiss his lawsuit against Garrett Ziegler, a former aide to Donald Trump, over the publication of data allegedly retrieved from his infamous laptop.
In a filing submitted Wednesday to U.S. District Judge Hernan D. Vera in California, Biden’s legal team argued that the First Son can no longer afford to sustain the legal battle he launched in 2023. The lawsuit accuses Ziegler and his nonprofit, Marco Polo, of unlawfully distributing 128,000 emails said to be linked to Biden through an online database.
According to Biden’s attorneys, his financial situation has taken a sharp downturn, leaving him “millions of dollars in debt.” They cited personal setbacks including a wildfire in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles that left his rental home uninhabitable and upended his living situation.
The court documents state that Biden has struggled to secure permanent housing and reliable income, asserting that his immediate priorities must now shift toward rebuilding his life and supporting his family—rather than continuing the lawsuit.
“In light of his circumstances,” the filing reads, “Mr. Biden believes his time and resources would be better spent addressing the urgent needs of his family, rather than pursuing this litigation.”
Ziegler’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment on the filing. Biden’s lawyers also declined to comment further.
Ziegler previously attempted to have the case dismissed, but the judge denied the motion in 2023 and ordered him to reimburse Biden for roughly $18,000 in legal fees. At the time, Ziegler dismissed the lawsuit as “completely frivolous.”
In a separate filing Wednesday, Biden gave a sobering account of his finances. He said he’s unable to take on new loans due to overwhelming debt and has seen a steep drop in earnings from his artwork and memoir—his main sources of income in recent years.
Biden sold 27 pieces of art for an average of $54,500 in the years before the lawsuit but has managed to sell only one piece, for $36,000, since. He also reported that sales of his memoir fell significantly, with only 1,100 copies sold in the six months following the lawsuit—compared to over 3,100 in the previous six months.
His lawyers also noted the failure of a legal defense fund created to help cover his expenses, a campaign that received national attention.
Biden has faced growing legal and personal troubles over the past year. He pled guilty in a federal tax case and was convicted on federal gun charges. His sentencing was expected in December before President Joe Biden issued a pardon.