CNN
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Hunter Biden’s lawyers on Wednesday asked state and federal agencies to investigate Rudy Giuliani, the owner of a computer repair shop, and some right-wing politicians involved in distributing content from his laptop, accusing them of committing computer and other crimes in an attempt to “weaponize” the contents of the laptop against his father.
The charges, filed in letters to the Delaware attorney general, the Justice Department’s national security division and the Internal Revenue Service, mark the first public acknowledgment by President Joe Biden’s son and his legal team of allegedly His personal data was found on a laptop left at the Delaware repair shop.
The letters mark a marked change in Hunter Biden’s strategy after hiring a new lawyer to help him fend off an onslaught of Republicans seeking to use his personal battle with drugs and congressional investigations into his business dealings attack the president. Hunter Biden also faces an ongoing federal criminal investigation focused on taxes and other issues.
In a letter to Delaware Attorney General Casey Jennings, attorneys for Hunter Biden charged computer repair shop owner John Paul McIsaac with unauthorized access to the laptop and distribution of its contents to the New York Post , to cover a report published weeks before the 2020 election. In his memoirs and media interviews, Mac Isaac said he received a laptop from Hunter Biden at his store in 2019.
“This failed dirty political ploy led directly to the exposure, exploitation and manipulation of Mr. Biden’s private and personal information. Mr. Mac Isaac’s deliberate, reckless and illegal actions resulted in hundreds of gigabytes of Mr. Biden’s personal Data will be disseminated on the Internet without any discretion,” Abe Lowell, Hunter Biden’s attorney, wrote in the letter.
The letter calls for an investigation into Garrett Ziegler, John Paul McIsaac, Robert Costello, Rudy Giuliani and Stephen Bannon. CNN has reached out to the individuals or their attorneys for comment. CNN also contacted the Justice Department, the IRS and the Delaware attorney general’s office.
In the years since the existence of the laptop was first made public, Hunter Biden has tried to question the source of the personal information he claims came from the laptop. It appears to contain numerous details, including business documents, emails and photographs, including some potentially obscene material.
“There’s probably a laptop in there that I stole,” Hunter Biden said in a 2021 CBS interview promoting his memoir. Intelligence. Maybe I stole it.”
Mac Isaac said he bought the laptop in April 2019 when Hunter Biden dropped it off at his shop for repairs.
According to the repair shop owner’s book, Biden signed a contract with McIsaac that included a policy stating that if the laptop was not picked up within 90 days, it would become McIsaac’s property. McIsaac wrote that Biden never returned to get his laptop.
But by his own account, Mike Isaac said he looked at the files on Hunter Biden’s laptop the day after it was given away. Mike Isaac says in his book that the day after Hunter Biden put down his laptop, he noticed a file on his hard drive called “income.pdf” that apparently tracked Biden financial situation.
According to Mac Isaac, FBI agents issued a subpoena on December 9, 2019 and seized the laptop.
In late August or early September 2020, a hard copy was sent to one of Giuliani’s business addresses, according to Giuliani’s attorney, Robert Costello. Giuliani eventually sent a hard copy to the New York Post.
Giuliani told The Wall Street Journal in October 2020 that he “has every right to use” the hard drive.
A research team led by Garrett Ziegler, a former aide to Trump White House adviser Peter Navarro, has posted emails and documents purportedly from Hunter’s laptop on a publicly accessible website. Ziegler said he received a copy of the laptop through Giuliani and Bernard Creek, a former New York City police chief and Giuliani’s aide, Politico reported.
On the website where Ziegler’s team, Marco Polo, posted the contents of the laptop, the disclaimer read: “Marco Polo testified that the contents of Biden’s laptop were abandoned property.”
In a CBS interview in April 2021, Hunter Biden said he “didn’t know” if the laptop belonged to him, but said it was possible. Asked if he ever dropped his laptop in Delaware for repairs, Hunter Biden said he hadn’t.
“I don’t remember any of it,” he added.
This story has been updated with more details.