Hunter Biden has filed a lawsuit against Rudy Giuliani and his former attorney, Robert Costello, alleging that they hacked and manipulated data on an external hard drive associated with his laptop. Giuliani and Costello have admitted to accessing the hard drive’s data, claiming they were given it by a computer repair shop owner who said Hunter Biden never retrieved the laptop. The lawsuit accuses Giuliani and Costello of spending an excessive amount of time tampering with and disseminating the data. It also claims that the data was altered and manipulated, casting doubt on the allegations of corruption against Hunter Biden.
The lawsuit alleges that Giuliani and Costello used Hunter Biden’s username to gain access to his data, made copies of it, and shared it with others, including Steve Bannon. The data from the laptop has generated numerous headlines and Republican claims of corruption. However, the lawsuit argues that some of the data was tampered with and altered. It cites statements made by Giuliani on his podcast and YouTube show where he boasted about his access to the data and admitted to copying, analyzing, and manipulating it. An independent analysis of the data provided by the computer repair shop owner found no evidence of tampering, but some versions of the hard drive later circulated with potential signs of tampering.
This lawsuit is part of Hunter Biden’s legal team’s efforts to push back against Republican accusations and defamation. They have sent letters to prominent Republican media personalities and former officials, warning them to preserve records related to Hunter Biden. They have also sued the computer repair shop owner, the IRS, a former Trump White House aide, and sent a cease and desist letter to Donald Trump’s legal team. The lawsuit against Giuliani comes at a time when both Giuliani and Hunter Biden are facing legal troubles. Giuliani was indicted for his role in trying to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia, while Hunter Biden was indicted for charges related to his alleged purchase of a firearm while allegedly being a drug user. Both have entered not guilty pleas and deny any wrongdoing.