Hunter Biden has formally asked a federal judge to drop his lawsuit against former Trump aide Garrett Ziegler, citing mounting financial hardship and an urgent need to redirect his limited resources.
In a filing submitted Wednesday to a California federal court, Biden’s legal team explained that his personal finances have taken a severe hit, leaving him unable to continue with the legal battle. They said Biden is currently grappling with millions of dollars in debt and a steep decline in income.
The situation worsened significantly after a wildfire in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles forced Biden out of his rental home, which his attorneys described as “uninhabitable for an extended period.” Since then, Biden has struggled to find a stable place to live and to secure steady work, his lawyers added.
“Mr. Biden has had difficulty securing permanent housing and earning a living,” the filing stated, noting that his energy and finances must now be focused on basic necessities like housing, repairs, and caring for his family.
Neither Ziegler nor his legal team responded to requests for comment on the filing. Biden’s representatives also declined to speak further on the matter.
The lawsuit, originally filed in 2023, accused Ziegler and his nonprofit organization, Marco Polo, of illegally publishing private data—128,000 emails allegedly linked to Biden—through a publicly searchable online archive. Ziegler, a former aide to Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro, previously attempted to have the case dismissed, but a judge denied the motion.
Biden had been awarded about $18,000 in legal fees from Ziegler in a prior ruling, though the recent filing suggests those funds barely made a dent in his growing financial burdens.
In supporting documents, Biden revealed that his efforts to stabilize his income through art and writing have fallen flat. Once hopeful that media appearances and speaking engagements would generate revenue, Biden said those opportunities have failed to materialize. He noted that while he sold 27 pieces of art for an average of $54,500 each in the years before the lawsuit, he’s only managed to sell one piece for $36,000 since.
Sales of his memoir have also plummeted. Between April and September 2023, he sold over 3,100 copies; in the six months following the lawsuit’s filing, that number dropped to just around 1,100.
Biden’s broader financial troubles have drawn public attention in recent months, including a failed attempt to launch a legal defense fund. His legal challenges have also intersected with criminal matters: he pleaded guilty last year in a federal tax case and had been convicted on gun charges before receiving a pardon from President Joe Biden in December, just before sentencing.
Now, with legal costs mounting and his income dwindling, Hunter Biden appears to be stepping back from this particular courtroom battle—at least for now.
