Hunter Biden, the embattled son of United States President Joe Biden, filed a countersuit against the computer repair shop owner who turned over his laptop to federal authorities, calling it an invasion of privacy.
The lawsuit also claims that the owner, identified as John Paul Mac Isaac, illicitly distributed Hunter's personal data he acquired from the laptop and accused him of six counts of invasion of privacy.
Hunter Biden's Countersuit
Hunter filed the countersuit against Issac in a Delaware district court on Friday. The computer repair shop owner in 2020 said that a man who he believed to be the son of the president dropped off three laptops at his store in April 2019, of which, only one was salvageable. He said that while repairing the laptop, he uncovered disturbing material.
Because the customer did not return for the laptop within 90 days and the computer repair shop was unable to contact him, Isaac searched the emails by keyword in June or July 2019. He said that the FBI first made a forensic copy of the laptop and then came back several weeks after with a subpoena and confiscated it from him, as per Fox News.
Isaac, when he stopped hearing from the FBI, said that he contacted several members of Congress, who also did not respond to him. At that time, his intermediary made an effort to reach out to Rudy Giuliani's attorney, Robert Costello.
The situation comes as Hunter seemingly confirmed that the laptop belongs to him in a February 2023 letter from his lawyers. On the other hand, Biden's attorney, Abbe Lowell, wrote letters to the country's Department of Justice and the Delaware attorney general on Feb. 1 that called for investigations into Steve Bannon, Giuliani, and Isaac.
Hunter and his attorneys wrote in the lawsuit that Isaac had no legal right to copy and distribute the private information that he found in the laptop. They are accusing the computer repair shop owner of various charges, including conspiracy to obtain and distribute data.
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Invasion of Privacy
The filing, which was 42 pages long, goes into specific detail on the ways that Hunter's personal data became available to the public. Those particular developments went into focus in the last presidential campaign and have been at the center of Republican-led congressional investigations, according to the Washington Post.
The countersuit further emphasized one particular instance in Hunter's life, which involved nude photos, sensitive audio, and a collection of personal texts and emails. The suit is Hunter's and his lawyers' attempt to reframe the controversy, shifting the blame onto a private citizen whose privacy was allegedly invaded instead of Hunter using his father's name to benefit in the political world.
In a Friday court filing, Hunter's lawyers said that Isaac intended and had full knowledge that the people he provided the personal information to would use it against the president and in support of former President Donald Trump.
A lawyer representing Isaac, Ronald Poliquin, did not comment regarding the lawsuit, saying that he and the computer repair shop owner's team were still reviewing the claims and would later respond to them in court, said CNN.
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