Hunter Biden’s legal team is seeking federal action against two individuals tied to Trump over their roles in spreading private records — and outright lies — related to the president’s often-targeted son.
Those implicated were Garrett Ziegler and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). Ziegler is a former aide in the Trump White House who worked with Peter Navarro, the Trump adviser covering economic issues who also joined efforts to subvert the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, meaning Joe Biden’s victory. Ziegler obtained a series of what are known as Suspicious Activity Reports related to the younger Biden. Those materials are financial records that document certain transactions or financial activity potentially suggestive of violative acts, although the documents themselves inherently don’t prove anything by existing. By all appearances, filing the materials is a routine requirement for financial institutions, and there are strict federal rules around the disclosure of the contents of these files, which contain potentially revealing personal details that in many cases haven’t been connected to any crimes.
For Ziegler, the president’s son’s team sought an investigation by the Treasury Department, writing to the inspector general (an oversight official) overseeing that department. Criminal prosecutions could eventually be in order. “Ziegler has used Mr. Biden’s SARs and other financial records to craft a false narrative that Mr. Biden is associated with a human trafficking ring,” the missive covering that ex-aide’s actions said. “In his persistent and continued broadcast of this fictitious tale, Ziegler has called upon House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer to disseminate Mr. Biden’s private information to an even wider audience.”
Comer, a Kentucky Republican, has actually done so, with his panel including portions of the materials in a report and the Congressman himself falsely characterizing one of the reports at a press conference, where he again raised the human trafficking allegation.
The request for action against Greene was sent to the House Ethics Committee, which is generally comprised of an equally divided number of Democrats and Republicans. Greene suggested two other individuals in a photo with Hunter were prostitutes; they were actually Biden family members. Greene has also raised the trafficking claim. “Representative Greene’s unethical conduct arises from her continuous verbal attacks, defamatory statements, publication of personal photos and data, and promotion of conspiracy theories about and against Robert Hunter Biden,” his legal team said. “None of these could possibly be deemed to be part of any legitimate legislative activity.” Details of these latest moves from Hunter Biden’s corner were shared in an NBC report.
