GOP

While Moms For Liberty cofounder Bridget Ziegler and her husband, former Florida GOP chair Christian Ziegler, fight in court today to keep law enforcement records related to the latter’s closed rape investigation from public view, a recently released police report provides startling details about the couple’s sexual practices. The report, obtained by the Florida Trident and authored by Sarasota police Det. Angela Cox, recounts how Christian Ziegler went “on the prowl” in bars for women to bring home to Bridget, a Sarasota County School Board member who has backed a number of anti-LGBTQ measures at both the state and local level, for threesome encounters.

An ongoing effort begun after the last presidential election seeks to bring together Republican officials who are willing to defend the country’s election systems and the people who run them. They want officials to reinforce the message that elections are secure and accurate, an approach they say is especially important as the country heads toward another divisive presidential contest.

Over five hours of interviews, President Joe Biden repeatedly told a special counsel that he never meant to retain classified information after he left the vice presidency, but he was at times fuzzy about dates and said he was unfamiliar with the paper trail for some of the sensitive documents he handled.A transcript of the Biden interviews was made public Tuesday, just as the special counsel, Robert Hur, went before the House Judiciary Committee to face questions about his investigation of the Democratic president.

The ousted former chair of the Republican Party of Florida will not face a video voyeurism charge for recording a sexual encounter with a woman who accused him of rape, a case in which he was also not charged, prosecutors said Wednesday.The woman made inconsistent statements about whether or not she consented to the video made by Christian Ziegler during the October encounter at her home, prosecutors said in a memo. A crime could be committed if there was sufficient evidence the video was made without her knowledge and consent.

The Sarasota Police Department has closed the rape investigation of Christian Ziegler with no charges filed, but are forwarding a related case involving video voyeurism to the State Attorney’s Office for review, according to sources with direct knowledge of the investigation and confirmed by a police news release.

A Senate Republican has filed a bill that could lead to potentially far-reaching changes in voting by mail. Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, a Spring Hill Republican who is a former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, filed the bill (SB 1752) for consideration during the legislative session that will start Tuesday.

Sarasota police are investigating whether Florida GOP Chairman Christian Ziegler unlawfully videotaped the sexual encounter at the heart of a rape allegation against him, a third search warrant affidavit obtained by the Florida Trident reveals.Based on the newly released Dec. 8 police affidavit, Circuit Judge Thomas Krug issued a search warrant for Ziegler’s Instagram account after finding probable cause the embattled Republican official violated state law prohibiting video voyeurism, a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison.

A sex video involving Sarasota School Board member Bridget Ziegler and an unidentified woman has been recovered by police as part of the ongoing criminal investigation of a rape allegation made against Bridget’s husband, Christian Ziegler, sources close to the investigation have told the Florida Trident.In response to a specific public record request for that video, the Sarasota Police Department on Thursday asserted the video was exempt from disclosure due to the ongoing criminal investigation.

In a step toward removing him from office next month, Christian Ziegler was censured and stripped of powers as chairman of the Republican Party of Florida on Sunday.The moves came as he sought to maintain the $120,000-a-year leadership post amid an investigation into an alleged sexual battery.

Sarasota police have recovered video of Florida GOP chair and alleged victim in rape investigation