In yesterday's California Court of Appeal decision in Morris v. Ziegler, written by Justice Judish Ashmann-Gerst, joined by Justices Elwood Lui and Victor Chavez:
Morris's claims arise from allegations that defendants impersonated a Democratic fundraiser to obtain personal information about Morris's client, Hunter Biden (Biden), and the then-emerging political and legal controversy surrounding his laptop (the Biden laptop)….
Ziegler worked as a political aide and White House staff member during President Donald Trump's first administration. In 2020, Ziegler transitioned to a private-sector career as an activist, publishing online exposés about President Trump's political opponents and their associates.
In July 2021, Ziegler founded Marco Polo, which he describes as "a research group whose mission is to expose corruption and blackmail." Ziegler distributes his exposés through Marco Polo's Web site, as well as its associated pages on various social media platforms.
Morris is an attorney. In 2019, he began representing Biden, the son of then-President Joseph Biden….
In May 2022, several news outlets reported that Morris was financially supporting Biden. On May 19, 2022, Ziegler—using the name of a major fundraiser for the Democratic party, Jon Cooper (Cooper)—began texting Morris for information about Biden. Believing that "Cooper" wanted to help Biden, Morris gave him "information and analyses" about the Biden laptop.
