Biden's 'Sore Finger' Second Son Gives Up Legal Battle... "Due to Financial Difficulties"

"Recently Lost His Home in California Wildfires"

Hunter Biden (54), the second son of former U.S. President Joe Biden, has given up his legal battle due to financial difficulties.

On the 7th, Yonhap News reported this citing the British daily The Telegraph. According to the report, Hunter requested the California Federal Court to dismiss a lawsuit against Garrett Ziegler, who was an aide to a White House advisor during the first Trump administration.

US President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden. Photo by Reuters Yonhap News

Ziegler is the person who obtained and published online photos and emails from a laptop Hunter left at a computer repair shop in April 2019, during Trump's first term. At that time, Hunter reported the laptop to the FBI, claiming there was suspicious content on it.

Investigations revealed that the laptop contained emails discussing business between Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company where Hunter served as a director, and Chinese companies. Videos related to Hunter's inappropriate personal life also surfaced. This information was used to attack President Biden during the 2020 presidential election.

Subsequently, in 2023, Hunter filed a lawsuit claiming that Ziegler had illegally obtained the laptop's contents. However, Hunter explained to the court that he could not continue the lawsuit due to financial difficulties, stating, "My income has significantly decreased, and I have incurred massive debts amounting to millions of dollars."

He also added that he recently lost his home due to wildfires in California. The $4.2 million (approximately 6.1 billion KRW) house in Malibu, where Hunter's family lived, was completely destroyed by the fire.

According to documents submitted to the court, after debuting as a painter, Hunter sold 27 artworks at an average price of $54,500 (approximately 72.7 million KRW), but after the lawsuit, he sold only one piece. Sales of his memoir, which was his main source of income, also sharply declined.

Hunter Biden, the second son of U.S. President Joe Biden. Photo by AFP Yonhap News

Earlier, through his memoir Beautiful Things, he revealed his past struggles with drug and alcohol addiction, an affair with his sister-in-law, and controversies surrounding his father's influence. In the memoir, Hunter wrote that his affair with his sister-in-law began "from a bond of grief over losing a loved one" after his older brother Beau Biden died of brain cancer in 2015. However, he also wrote, "The breakdown of this relationship only deepened the tragedy," and "What was lost was simply lost forever."

He criticized former President Donald Trump as a "despicable human with a despicable mission" who used him as a scapegoat for re-election. Hunter completely denied the Ukraine scandal allegations that Trump raised throughout the election.

Hunter informed the court that from April to September 2023, 3,100 copies of his memoir were sold, but sales dropped to 1,100 copies over the following six months. He stated, "I realized that I must take radical measures to resolve my severely deteriorated financial situation," and said he is also considering whether to withdraw other lawsuits besides the one against Ziegler.

Meanwhile, Hunter was convicted in Delaware last June for violating firearms laws and pleaded guilty to tax evasion charges in California. Subsequently, President Joe Biden pardoned Hunter about a month before his own retirement.