Hunter Biden Accuses Giuliani, Costello of Laptop Data Hack

Last updated Sep 26, 2023

TL/DR –

Hunter Biden has sued Rudy Giuliani and his former attorney, Robert Costello, accusing them of hacking and manipulating data on a hard drive connected to his laptop. The laptop in question was supposedly abandoned by Hunter Biden at a Delaware computer repair shop in 2019, the owner of which provided the hard drive to Giuliani and Costello. Amid various lawsuits, independent examinations found no evidence that the user data had been altered, although there were signs that some versions of the hard drive could have been tampered with after April 2019.

Hunter Biden Sues Rudy Giuliani and Former Attorney Over Laptop Data Manipulation

Hunter Biden has filed a lawsuit against Rudy Giuliani and his ex-attorney, Robert Costello, alleging they hacked and modified data from an external hard drive connected to his laptop.

The lawsuit accuses Giuliani and Costello of spending a significant amount of time and resources on accessing, tampering, and distributing the retrieved data, which they claim was obtained through unauthorized or illegal means.

Giuliani, who has often depicted Hunter Biden as a corrupt businessperson, claims to have received the hard drive in 2020 from a Delaware computer repair shop. Both Giuliani and Costello said that Hunter Biden had left his laptop at the shop in 2019 and did not come back for it. Consequently, Hunter Biden sued the computer repair shop owner, John Paul Mac Isaac, who denies any wrongdoing and asserts he acquired the laptop legally.

The lawsuit posits that Giuliani and Costello used Hunter Biden’s username to access his data, created duplicates, and shared the information with allies such as Steve Bannon.

Giuliani’s spokesperson, Ted Goodman, denied these allegations and stated, “Hunter Biden has previously refused to admit ownership of the laptop.”

According to the lawsuit, some of Giuliani’s comments on his podcast and YouTube show suggest he had access to the data. The suit also contends that some data was tampered with and manipulated.

A lawyer for Mac Isaac provided what he referred to as an “exact copy” of the laptop data to CBS News in 2019. An independent analysis by two cyber investigators found no evidence of modification or tampering. However, subsequent versions of the hard drive appeared to have had data added after April 2019, raising suspicions of tampering.

The legal efforts by Hunter Biden’s legal team have included suing Mac Isaac, the IRS, a former Trump White House aide, and issuing a cease and desist order to ex-President Donald Trump’s legal team, alleging defamation.

Meanwhile, both Giuliani and Hunter Biden are facing legal issues. Last August, Giuliani was indicted by a Fulton County, Georgia grand jury, along with former President Donald Trump and others, on charges related to efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 presidential election results.

In September, Hunter Biden was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges related to an alleged firearm purchase in 2018.

Further straining relations, Costello sued Giuliani for nearly $1.4 million in unpaid legal fees, a claim Giuliani disputes, stating he was “personally hurt” by the lawsuit.