Hunter Biden is claiming he is too broke to continue a legal battle he launched against his nemesis, ex Trump White House staffer Garrett Ziegler, blaming the Palisades Fire that destroyed his home.
The claim, made by Hunter’s lawyer in a letter to Ziegler’s attorney this week, indicates the former First Son is out of cash, can no longer tap his ‘sugar brother’ Hollywood attorney Kevin Morris for funds, and is not being bailed out by Democrat donors.
The letter, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal, says Hunter ‘lacks the resources to continue this litigation at this time’.
A source close to the case also told DailyMail.com that the pardoned felon is planning to quit California and move back to the east coast.
The legal letter claimed hard-up Hunter’s financial woe ‘have been exacerbated after the fires in the Pacific Palisades in early January upended Plaintiff’s life by rendering his rental house unlivable for an extended period of time’.
Hunter’s $15,800-per-month Malibu rental was razed by the Palisades Fire that swept through an entire neighborhood on January 7.
The $4million home was a three-bedroom, three-bath 1950s idyll with panoramic views over the Pacific.
In September 2023 Hunter, 55, sued Ziegler, 29, and his right-wing nonprofit Marco Polo in California federal court for alleged computer hacking, after they published a 644-page report on his alleged illegal activity based on material from his infamous abandoned laptop.
Hunter Biden is claiming he is too broke to continue a legal battle he launched against his nemesis, ex Trump White House staffer Garrett Ziegler
The former aide wrote a 600-page report on the contents of Hunter’s infamous abandoned laptop, published by his right-wing nonprofit Marco Polo, that exposed alleged illegal activity by Hunter and his associatesÂ
Hunter Biden’s $15,800-per-month Malibu rental was razed by the Palisades Fire that swept through an entire neighborhood on January 7, he cited this as a basis for his financial woes
Now he wants to drop the case.
But furious Ziegler told DailyMail.com that the former president’s son isn’t getting away that easily.
‘Hunter wants to cry uncle. We are opposing that,’ he said. ‘We want our attorneys’ fees to be paid, for Hunter to cease lying about us and me, and just generally to shut the f**k up.’
Ziegler, 29, said he isn’t letting Hunter get out of the infamous hacking lawsuit easily and expects his ‘attorneys’ fees to be paid’ and for the former President’s son to ‘just generally shut the f*** up’
On Wednesday, Hunter’s lawyers submitted their request to the judge, saying the ex-First Son has ‘has significant debt in the millions of dollars range.’
‘Plaintiff does not have the resources to continue to litigate this matter,’ the filing said.
‘Plaintiff has suffered a significant downturn in his income and has significant debt in the millions of dollars range. Moreover, this lack of resources has been exacerbated after the fires in the Pacific Palisades.’
The filing by attorney Bryan Sullivan still insists Hunter had ‘had factual and legal basis’ for his lawsuit claiming Ziegler and Marco Polo ‘hacked Plaintiff’s iCloud’.
But it added that Hunter ‘suffered a significant downturn in his income over the past 18 months with reduced book and art sales, which has been his main source of income over the prior years.’
Hunter’s wealthy ‘sugar brother’ Hollywood attorney Kevin Morris failed to show up for a deposition last month, where Ziegler was set to grill him on his dealings with the former First Son
Hunter Biden’s lawyers submitted this notice to the judge to dismiss the case based on his lack of ‘resource to continue to litigate this matter’. But they asserted they do have a legal basis through Ziegler’s ‘admissions’ that he hacked Hunter’s iCloud
Hunter’s lawyers wrote he ‘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.’
In the 19-page filing, they argued Ziegler and his nonprofit ‘will not lose any rights or defenses’ by the judge dismissing the case.
Hunter’s legal letter claims he has struggled to find a new home for himself, wife Melissa Cohen Biden, 38, and toddler Beau Jr., age four, after the January fires.
‘Like many others in that situation, plaintiff has had difficulty in finding a new permanent place to live as well as finding it difficult to earn a living,’ the letter said.
‘So, plaintiff 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.’
It will now be up to Judge Hernán Vera to decide whether he is allowed to extricate himself from the legal tangle he started.
Hunter had borrowed at least $7million from wealthy Hollywood attorney Kevin Morris to repay his multi-million-dollar tax debts, finance his lavish lifestyle, and foot his burgeoning legal bills.
But that deep well reportedly dried up last year ahead of Hunter’s criminal prosecutions for gun and tax crimes that led to felony convictions, forgiven by President Joe Biden in his final weeks in office.
Ziegler claims that now that Joe Biden is out of the White House, his son’s patrons are drying up
Hunter’s legal letter claims he has struggled to find a new home for himself, wife Melissa Cohen Biden, 38, and toddler Beau Jr., age four, after the January firesÂ
Hunter’s legal team also reportedly floated the idea of crowdfunding to finance his legal cases, but that apparently didn’t work out.
Hunter was hoping to reap millions for his paintings, promoted by top New York gallerist George Bergès, with price tags up to $500,000 per piece.
Morris bought 11 works for $875,000, with total sales reaping $1.5 million, according to Bergès’s congressional testimony in January last year.
But there have been no reports of further sales since then.
The former First Son has significant personal expenses, including a reported $5,000 per month in child support to his six-year-old daughter Navy Joan Roberts with his former assistant Lunden Roberts.
He also owes ex-wife Kathleen Buhle $2.9 million in alimony, according to a June 2024 report by Axios.
The lawsuit against Ziegler was set to go to trial in September this year. But two of Hunter’s lawyers recently pulled out amid talk of his funds drying up.
Adding further controversy, ‘sugar brother’ Morris failed to show up for a deposition last month, where Ziegler was set to grill him on his dealings with the former First Son, sparking outrage from Ziegler’s side.
Although his funds are reportedly ‘dried up’, Hunter was seen out to lunch with a friend in Solvang, California, in late January
At his Delaware gun crimes trial in June, Hunter’s wife Melissa spotted Ziegler, strode up to him and called him a ‘Nazi piece of s***’Â
‘Hunter’s lawyers left him, never notified the court, and now they’re scrambling,’ Ziegler said.Â
‘And because his dad is out of office, his patrons are drying up.
‘This is an abuse of the legal system. It can’t stand. Our tiny nonprofit had to scrape together legal fees for nearly two years to deal with this Peter Pan-like manchild.’
Hunter and his family are known to loathe the conservative provocateur.
At his Delaware gun crimes trial in June, Hunter’s wife Melissa spotted Ziegler, strode up to him and called him a ‘Nazi piece of s***’.
But now the Biden son is trying to extricate himself from the legal tangle with the ex-Trump staffer, as some of his lawyers also are jumping ship.
One of Hunter’s Los Angeles lawyers, Greg Ellis, filed documents notifying federal Judge Vera of his withdrawal on January 10.
Another, Paul Salvaty, quit Winston & Strawn, the firm representing Hunter, and got a new job, but allegedly did not tell the court.
Morris was spotted smoking from a bong on the balcony of his Hollywood apartment on July 22, 2023
Hunter’s attempt to cancel his lawsuit is a dramatic shift from the aggressive posture of his attorney Morris in text messages he sent to a Marco Polo associate, detailed in another lawsuitÂ
Money from Hunter’s art also seems to have dried up despite his gallery calling him ‘one of the most consequential artiists in this century
Ziegler’s attorney filed court documents saying she only discovered he was no longer representing Hunter when she emailed Salvaty and the message bounced.
The quitting lawyers prompted the judge to order Hunter ‘to show cause in writing, by no later than March 5 explaining the Plaintiff’s situation vis-Ã -vis representation’.
Winston & Strawn made a new filing saying they had other LA attorneys who had been involved from the beginning of the case, and would officially add them to the docket.
Minutes filed on Monday referred to a ‘dispute’ over Morris’s ‘failure to appear for a deposition on February 26’.
The summary from the judge said Morris claims he is exempt from the deposition as he has attorney-client privilege with Hunter, while Ziegler claims the Hollywood lawyer failed to file his objections properly, so was still required to appear for his deposition.
‘The dispute raises an issue that warrants briefing and a hearing,’ the judge wrote.
​​’You’d think a member of the California State Bar would be cognizant of his legal duties to appear for a deposition,’ a furious Ziegler told DailyMail.com.
‘Apparently Morris believes that he’s above the civil law just like Joe Biden made clear that his family was above the criminal law at least from 2014 on.’
‘Call your lawyer, Garrett. We already have you. You’ve been a bad boy,’ the attorney responded, referring to Marco Polo founder Ziegler
Furious-sounding Morris responded: ‘You’re going to enjoy being a b***boy for 20 years dude. Lube up’
He was referring to the former president’s blanket pardon of Hunter, issued in his final weeks in office, for his convicted federal gun and tax crimes as well as any other illegal activity since 2014.
The March 3 minutes also said that Hunter’s lawyers had sent Ziegler’s ‘a proposal for a joint stipulation to dismiss’ their case, and had told the judge that if Ziegler’s team didn’t agree, they would ask the judge to nix the case himself.
Hunter’s attempt to cancel his lawsuit is a dramatic shift from the aggressive posture of his attorney Morris in text messages he sent to a Marco Polo associate, detailed in another lawsuit.
‘We will follow you to the ends of the earth,’ Morris texted a number he thought was Ziegler, according to a harassment complaint he filed against the ex-Trump staffer in a Los Angeles court in April 2023.
‘You’re going to prison and we’re going to get all of the money your family has and you will work for us for the rest of your life.
‘You’re f***ing with the wrong guys. It’s not like this wont be hanging on you for the rest of your life – there is right and wrong in this world,’ the attorney wrote, calling Ziegler a ‘viscous little p***y’.
The application to drop the lawsuit was made ‘ex-parte’, meaning in a direct request to the judge, without input from Ziegler’s side.
Ziegler said this approach is usually reserved for emergencies, and accused Hunter of trying to get his way through a legal back door.
‘Think of ex-parte as an emergency. There’s no reason to file this on an emergency basis, other than he doesn’t want to give us enough time to formulate a response,’ the Marco Polo founder said.
‘I think it’s not just that he has run out of money. He has to do it ex-parte, because if he doesn’t, we set his and Kevin’s depositions for next week.
‘Morris is the moneybags,’ Ziegler said. ‘And he doesn’t want to be deposed.’
