Hunter Biden filed a civil lawsuit Tuesday accusing Rudolph W. Giuliani and attorney Bob Costello of computer fraud and violating his privacy in releasing information found on a laptop the first son had left at a Delaware repair shop.
The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles federal court, accuses the two defendants of “hacking into, tampering with, manipulating, copying, disseminating and generally obsessing over data that they were given that was taken or stolen” from Hunter Biden’s electronic devices.
“Defendants are among those who have been primarily responsible for what has been described as the ‘total annihilation’ of Plaintiff’s digital privacy,” the lawsuit says. “They are also among those who have been primarily responsible for the ‘total annihilation’ of Plaintiff’s data.”
Mr. Giuliani did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In 2020, Mr. Giuliani, who was serving as then-President Trump’s personal lawyer, delivered the contents allegedly gleaned from Hunter Biden’s laptop to the New York Post before the presidential election.
The newspaper published stories based on that data, which linked the first son to shady business dealings and raised questions of influence peddling by Hunter Biden.
As Mr. Giuliani’s lawyer, Mr. Costello received a copy of the data mined from the laptop.
Hunter Biden does not acknowledge in the lawsuit that the laptop was his, but does say that some of the data “obtained, copied and proceeded to hack into” belonged to him. The lawsuit also alleges that the data was “manipulated, altered and damaged before it was copied and sent” to Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Costello.
“This is not an admission by Plaintiff that [Delaware computer repair shop owner] John Paul Mac Isaac (or others) in fact possessed any particular laptop containing electronically stored data belonging to Plaintiff,” his attorneys wrote. “Rather plaintiff simply acknowledges that at some point, Mac Isaac obtained electronically stored data, some of which belonged to Plaintiff.”
The lawsuit accuses Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Costello of violating California privacy laws and the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which makes it a crime to access computer data without authorization.
Hunter Biden’s lawsuit is the latest legal salvo in his aggressive counteroffensive against Republican critics who have accused him and his father of influence peddling and illegally profiting from the elder Biden’s position as vice president in the Obama administration.
Last week, Hunter Biden sued the IRS, accusing the agency of violating his rights and privacy after two agents investigating him for tax crimes told Congress and media outlets about their concerns that the case had been hampered by the Biden administration.
Hunter Biden sued former Trump White House aide Garrett Ziegler earlier this month, claiming that Mr. Ziegler “has devoted most of his waking time and energy” to trying to access devices that belong to the first son.
The new lawsuit adds to Mr. Giuliani’s legal woes. He is facing multiple civil actions stemming from his actions to reverse the results of the 2020 election. Mr. Giuliani also is facing criminal charges in Georgia for his efforts to overturn the election. He has pleaded not guilty.
Hunter Biden’s jab at Mr. Giuliani comes at a pivotal time for him and the president. House Republicans have just opened up an impeachment inquiry into President Biden that is largely focused on his role in Hunter Biden’s hugely profitable foreign business deals.
It also comes in the wake of the indictment of Hunter Biden on federal gun charges after a plea deal he reached with prosecutors on gun and tax charges fell apart under scrutiny from a judge.
The deal was negotiated by Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss. But after the deal collapsed, Mr. Weiss was appointed special counsel to continue his investigation into Hunter Biden. Mr. Weiss is now considering filing additional criminal charges against Hunter Biden in California for tax crimes.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.