Hunter Biden confesses to lackluster art, memoir sales in filing to drop ‘hacking’ lawsuit against former Trump official

As such, he asked a federal judge in Los Angeles to allow him to drop "a lawsuit he filed in 2023 accusing former Trump White House aide Garrett Ziegler of hacking the contents of Biden’s laptop," per Politico. That laptop, which is the subject of an entire saga, was pivotal in the 2020 presidential campaign as well as its aftermath.

In October 2020, an analysis of the contents of the laptop, along with backup, was published in the New York Post. The Post was accused of either having hacked the laptop or of peddling "Russian disinformation." It turned out, as everyone in media and politics had to admit in the ensuring years, that the laptop had in fact belonged to Hunter Biden, that he'd willingly left it behind, and that the evidence indicating that he was influence peddling on his family name to line the family pockets was all true.

Biden had been living in Pacific Palisades until the recent fires forced him out of his rental property and he's been unable to make ends meet through sales of his artwork, which, during his father's tenure in the Oval Office, sold for a collective $1.5 million from 10 buyers. He's only sold one painting over the last 14 months, Politico reports, per the court filing in which he's seeking to drop the suit.

His memoir, "Beautiful Things," sold only 4,200 copies in the lead up to his trial in Delaware on gun charges. It was his memoir, however, which helped seal his guilt. On a background check form that he was required to fill out before purchasing a gun—a policy endorsed by his father—Biden claimed that he was not using drugs. His memoir recounts the same time period as one filled with heavy drug use.

In the court documents, Biden said that he was expecting a more substantial income based on his art sales and memoir and that this has not materialized. "Since late 2023 and through today, my income has decreased significantly. Prior to that time, my income primarily came from sales of my artwork and sales of my memoir entitled 'Beautiful Things.' In the 2 to 3 years prior to December 2023, I sold 27 pieces of art at an average price of $54,481.48, but since then I have only sold 1 piece of art for $36,000. Similarly, for my book sales, in the six month period before the statements (April 1, 2023 through September 30, 2023), based on the September 30, 2023 statement, 3,161 copies of my book were sold, but in the six months after the statements, only approximately 1,100 books were sold. Given the positive feedback and reviews of my artwork and memoir, I was expecting to obtain paid speaking engagements and paid appearances, but that has not happened."

"This significant decrease in revenue has also impacted my ability to pay off my significant debt, which has been reported in the press as being several million dollars. As a result of this, I am not in a position where I can borrow money," the filing continues. "In addition to this significant decrease in income and my debt, my lack of financial resources has been exacerbated by the fires in the Pacific Palisades in early January, which has rendered my rental house unlivable for an extended period of time and, like many others in that situation, I am having difficulty in finding a new permanent place to live."

As to how he intends to proceed in life and debt, he wrote "While I was aware that my financial position had significantly deteriorated over time, it was not until the past month that I realized I had to take drastic actions to alleviate this situation. Then, during the week of February 24, 2025, I was informed of all the work that was going to be performed over the next two months and the estimated amount of fees and costs and over the weekend of March 1-2, 2025, I decided to voluntarily dismiss this action." He determined that it is more essential to cover his family's living expenses "as opposed to this litigation."

As to the merits of the case, Biden said in the court documents "While I believe in the merits of this case, and, indeed, note that Defendant Garrett Ziegler admitted to hacking my iCloud in multiple public statements, I am requesting to dismiss this action because I do not have the financial resources to continue litigating this case."

Hunter Biden seeks to drop suit by The Post Millennial on Scribd