Hunter Biden, the son of United States President Joe Biden, has initiated legal action against Rudy Giuliani and attorney Robert Costello. The lawsuit alleges that Giuliani and Costello wrongfully accessed and disseminated Hunter’s personal data, which they obtained from the owner of a computer repair shop in Delaware, USA.
This legal action represents the latest development in Hunter Biden’s effort to counter Republican allies of former President Donald Trump who have sought to discredit his father by circulating his private data, including purported emails and embarrassing images.
The lawsuit contends that Giuliani and Costello engaged in a years-long effort to “hack into, tamper with, manipulate, copy, disseminate, and generally obsess over” data that was either “taken or stolen” from Hunter’s devices or storage. This campaign, according to the claim, has resulted in the complete erosion of Hunter’s digital privacy.
Furthermore, the lawsuit asserts that Hunter’s data was “manipulated, altered, and damaged” both before it was shared with Giuliani and Costello and subsequently. The legal action accuses the defendants of violating computer hacking laws.
Among the relief sought by Hunter Biden’s lawsuit are unspecified damages and a court order to compel the return of the data and prohibit further copies.
Robert Costello, who previously represented Giuliani, recently filed a lawsuit against the former New York City mayor for non-payment of over $1.3 million in legal fees. A spokesperson for Giuliani has not responded to requests for comment at the time of writing, and Costello declined to provide a statement to the Associated Press (AP).
The ongoing saga surrounding Hunter Biden’s laptop began with a New York Post story in October 2020, which detailed purported emails found on the device related to Hunter’s foreign business dealings. Former President Trump seized upon this as a campaign issue during the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
While Hunter does not explicitly confirm the ownership of the laptop left at the computer shop, he acknowledges that “at least some” of the data was on his iPhone or backed up to iCloud.
In addition to this lawsuit, Hunter Biden is facing a separate investigation by a Justice Department special counsel into his taxes. He has also been charged with firearm possession and tax crimes.
House Republicans have been conducting investigations into Hunter’s business dealings, attempting to connect them to his father as part of an impeachment inquiry against President Biden.
Hunter has adopted a more proactive stance in recent months, suing a former aide to Trump over their alleged role in publishing emails and images. He also filed a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) earlier this month, alleging the wrongful sharing of his personal data by two agents who acted as whistleblowers in a House Republican probe into his business affairs.
Furthermore, Hunter Biden has advocated for an investigation into Giuliani, Costello, and the Wilmington computer repair shop owner, who claims that Hunter left a laptop at his store in April 2019 and never returned to retrieve it. Giuliani reportedly provided the laptop’s information to a New York Post reporter, as noted in a letter from Hunter’s attorney seeking a federal investigation.
