In a dramatic encounter outside the courtroom where Hunter Biden is currently facing trial for gun charges, Melissa Cohen-Biden, his wife, confronted Garrett Ziegler, a former Trump White House aide who has been attending the proceedings.
Ziegler, who previously worked on trade policy in the White House, was part of an effort by Trump allies to publicize the contents of a laptop to tarnish the reputation of Joe Biden’s son during the final stages of the 2020 election. Hunter Biden filed a lawsuit against Ziegler and his company, Marco Polo, accusing them of breaking state and federal laws in their attempt to create a searchable online database containing 128,000 emails.
Throughout Hunter Biden’s trial, where he stands accused of falsely denying his drug addiction when purchasing a gun, Ziegler has been present in the courtroom.
During a break in proceedings, Cohen-Biden encountered Ziegler in the hallway. She pointed her finger at him and loudly accused him, “You have no right to be here, you Nazi piece of s—,” before walking away. Later, Cohen-Biden returned to the courtroom and resumed her seat next to first lady Jill Biden.
Ziegler chose not to respond to Cohen-Biden’s outburst in the hallway.
The trial has brought Hunter Biden’s long-standing drug addiction to the forefront and has revealed embarrassing incidents in his life. Trump and his allies have repeatedly attacked Joe Biden, seeking to exploit his son’s actions to discredit him.
The laptop, a focal point of the trial’s testimony, was obtained via subpoena from a Delaware computer shop. FBI agent Erica Jensen confirmed its authenticity during her testimony, citing the laptop’s serial number matching the one provided by Apple Inc. in response to a subpoena.
When asked about the hallway confrontation, Ziegler denied approaching anyone and reiterated his support for the U.S. Constitution. He defended his presence at the trial as “prudent.”
Regarding Cohen-Biden’s accusations of anti-Semitic remarks, Ziegler denied them and dismissed Hunter Biden’s lawsuit as “completely frivolous.”
Hunter Biden and Melissa Cohen-Biden tied the knot in 2019. During opening statements, defense attorney Abbe Lowell acknowledged Cohen-Biden’s role in Hunter Biden’s journey to sobriety.
