HARD-DRIVING: Private citizen Hunter Biden sues over laptop invasion

HARD-DRIVING: Private citizen Hunter Biden sues over laptop invasion

A computer repairman in Delaware claims that he accessed — and proceeded to disseminate — Hunter Biden’s personal information legally, but the president’s son says in a new lawsuit that this is not the case at all and that John Paul Mac Isaac illegally invaded his privacy.

It starts with the laptop, which Mac Isaac says Biden abandoned at his shop, and the information he says he retrieved from that device, passing it on to GOP operative and former mayor Rudy Giuliani, from whence it proceeded to the public eye, with very private (read: nude) photos trafficked on social media by right-wing lawmakers.

When Biden asserted that the information had not been accessed legally, the repairman responded with a defamation suit — but in his new countersuit, Biden’s legal team defends that view.

First of all, Biden’s attorney says, Delaware law doesn’t allow a piece of property to be deemed abandoned for a full year, despite the repair shop’s fine print declaring 90 days to be their policy, and it requires a degree of effort to locate the owner first.

Further, the shop’s own stated policy is to protect data — ‘abandonment’ applies to the device, not the information on it.

Biden warned earlier this year that he would be pushing back against the stories being peddled about him and his family, demanding retractions from media entities including Tucker Carlson, who, aside from promoting the laptop stories, spread a (since debunked) claim that Biden paid his father exorbitant rents in a money-laundering scheme.

Now he’s following through and defending his right to privacy, and addressing (alleged) violations thereof by Mac Isaac. From Washington Post:

“And contrary to Mac Isaac’s claim that property left in his shop is abandoned property after 90 days, he admits in his recently published book and in other media appearances that he actually began accessing what he claims he had in his possession as Mr. Biden’s data long before 90 days had expired from when he claims any property or data was left in his shop,” the suit states.

Stephanie Bazzle

Steph Bazzle is a news writer who covers politics and theocracy, always aiming for a world free from extremism and authoritarianism. Follow Steph on Twitter @imjustasteph. Sign up for all of her stories to be delivered to your inbox here: