A California court has finally put an end to a long-running legal fight involving former Trump aide Garrett Ziegler and the outcome raises some serious questions about how this case was handled from the start.
The Superior Court of California ordered Kevin Morris best known as Hunter Biden’s so-called “sugar brother” to pay $50,000 to Ziegler and his nonprofit research group, Marco Polo, to cover legal costs. This wraps up a three-year dispute over claims that Ziegler impersonated a Democratic operative during a 2022 phone call to extract information about Hunter Biden’s laptop.
But according to Ziegler’s attorney, Jennifer Holliday, the ruling doesn’t come close to making up for what they went through. After years of litigation, she argues the case should never have made it this far in the first place. In fact, she’s now taking the fight to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking justices to take a closer look at California’s anti-SLAPP law which is supposed to protect free speech, but in her view ended up dragging out a weak case instead of shutting it down early.
On the other side, people familiar with Morris’ legal team are brushing off the Supreme Court push, calling it more of a procedural move than anything likely to succeed. They also point out that Ziegler’s team had initially sought up to $300,000, making the final $50,000 award look relatively modest.
The origins of the case are almost bizarre. Back in 2022, Morris believed he was speaking on the phone with a Democratic strategist about the Hunter Biden laptop. But after the call, he received an image featuring a squid, along with the phrase “NOTHING IS BEYOND OUR REACH” and the name “Marco Polo.” That’s when he concluded he may have been speaking with Ziegler, a Republican researcher who had been digging into the laptop’s contents.
Morris responded by filing a sweeping lawsuit, accusing Ziegler of everything from impersonation to emotional distress. The problem? He never managed to actually prove that Ziegler was the person on the other end of that call.
That lack of evidence became a central issue. According to Holliday, not once during the entire legal process did Morris provide a phone number or any concrete proof linking Ziegler to the conversation.
Ziegler, for his part, didn’t hold back, arguing that Morris played a key role in enabling Hunter Biden’s lifestyle pointing to reports that Morris loaned him millions of dollars and covered various personal expenses.
There are also political ties worth noting. Morris reportedly donated nearly $30,000 to former Rep. Eric Swalwell’s gubernatorial campaign shortly before it collapsed, and the two had multiple interactions during congressional investigations into Hunter Biden’s business dealings.
In the end, what stands out is how a case with such thin evidence managed to stretch on for years. Even with the court ordering Morris to pay legal fees, the bigger debate now is whether laws meant to protect free speech are being used in ways that actually prolong legal battles instead of stopping meritless claims early.
And with a possible Supreme Court review on the table, this story may not be completely over just yet.
Morris is a Jewish surname. Hunter Biden is married to Melissa Cohen. The late Joseph Robbinette Biden III was married to Hallie Olivere - who is Jewish. Ashley Blazer Biden is married to a Jewish fellow named Howard Krein. They recently filed for divorce.
ReplyDeleteChelsea Clinton is married to a Jewish fellow named Marc Mezvinsky and Al Gore Jr’s daughter Karena Gore-Schiff is separated from her Jewish husband Andrew Schiff. Andrew Schiff is the great grandson of Jacob Henry Schiff - the most powerful Jewish oligarch from the Guilded Era. “The Schiff Era” ran from 1880 to 1920.