Hunter Biden recently informed a federal judge that he is in serious financial trouble and cannot continue his lawsuit against Garrett Ziegler, a former aide to Donald Trump.
Biden had filed the lawsuit in 2023, claiming that Ziegler and his company, Marco Polo, broke state and federal laws by releasing a database with 128,000 emails from a laptop linked to him. Ziegler has called the lawsuit “completely frivolous.”
In a recent court filing, Biden’s lawyers requested U.S. District Judge Hernan D. Vera to dismiss the case. They noted that Biden has seen a significant drop in his income and is dealing with millions of dollars in debt.
His financial struggles have been compounded by various setbacks. For example, a wildfire in January made his rental home in Pacific Palisades unlivable for a long time. Along with housing challenges, Biden has had issues maintaining a steady income, with major income sources drying up.
Biden’s attempts to borrow money have also failed, and his art sales have plummeted. Previously, he sold 27 art pieces at an average of $54,500 each. Since then, he has sold just one piece for $36,000. His book, “Beautiful Things,” has also seen a significant decline in sales, dropping from over 3,100 copies in the first half of 2023 to about 1,100 in the latter half.
In addition to this lawsuit, Biden is reviewing other legal cases he is involved with to determine which ones he should pursue.
Both Biden’s and Ziegler’s legal teams have not responded to media inquiries. In previous court actions, the judge had denied a motion to dismiss from Ziegler and ordered him to pay around $18,000 in Biden’s legal fees.
The contents of a laptop, which Biden left at a Delaware repair shop, became a hot topic during the 2020 presidential campaign. It was accused by Biden’s team of being part of a “smear campaign” driven by Russian disinformation, although the hard drive has been authenticated by U.S. media and is currently with the FBI.
Last year, Biden faced serious charges, including a federal gun charge and a federal tax case, to which he pleaded guilty. In December, President Joe Biden pardoned him before his sentencing for the gun charge.