Hunter Biden sues computer repair shop owner who worked on a laptop, accusing him of trying to invade his privacy
By Katelyn Polantz, CNN Reporter, Crime and Justice
Hunter Biden is accusing the Delaware computer repair shop owner who worked on a laptop of trying to invade his privacy and wrongfully sharing his personal data for political purposes, according to new federal court filings.
Biden’s lawyers also say that John Paul Mac Isaac opposed the presidential candidacy of Hunter’s father, Joe Biden, and that he gave Hunter Biden’s data to “political enemies” to help then-President Donald Trump in 2020.
“Mac Isaac intended and knew, or clearly should have known, that people to whom he provided the data that he believed to belong to Mr. Biden would use it against then-candidate Joseph Biden and to assist then-President Trump,” Hunter Biden’s lawyers wrote in a court filing on Friday.
Ronald Poliquin, a lawyer for Mac Isaac in the civil case, declined to comment to CNN on Friday, saying Mac Isaac’s team was still reviewing Hunter Biden’s claims and would respond in court.
The filing from Hunter Biden’s lawyers outlines several ways Mac Isaac provided data to others — including when they say Mac Isaac sent a hard drive inside a stuffed animal to his father in New Mexico, and to a lawyer who worked with Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani.
Giuliani, Steve Bannon and Republican political aides ultimately got access to some of Biden’s data, which contained “sensitive, private material,” according to the lawsuit.
“The unauthorized accessing and dissemination of Mr. Biden’s data is offensive and objectionable to Mr. Biden, and would be highly offensive and objectionable to any reasonable person as they would not expect a computer repairman to copy and disseminate the private and confidential contents of someone’s data,” the lawsuit from Hunter Biden says.
The case was filed as a countersuit to one filed by Mac Isaac against Hunter Biden, CNN and others.
Years-long political saga
The yearslong saga surrounding Hunter Biden’s data has influenced the 2020 election, the debate over internet censorship, House GOP investigations into the Biden family, and beyond.
Material connected to Hunter Biden first became public in October 2020, when the New York Post published emails that it claimed belonged to Hunter Biden.
Since then, a deluge of other material has been published in Trump-friendly outlets, including sexually explicit videos of Hunter Biden with women, as well as photos of him doing drugs in hotel rooms. These outlets have also published emails, financial records and other documents about his lucrative overseas business dealings China, Ukraine and elsewhere.
In his court filing on Friday, Hunter Biden’s lawyers acknowledge that some of his electronic data was in Mac Isaac’s possession, but he doesn’t admit the laptop was his nor does he specify which records that were shared are his.
Hunter Biden hasn’t publicly claimed ownership of the laptop. He said in a 2021 interview that it could be his, or it could have been “hacked,” or a Russian fabrication.
This story has been updated with additional details.
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CNN’s Marshall Cohen contributed to this report.
