WILMINGTON, Del. — In a tense moment outside the courtroom where Hunter Biden is on trial for gun charges, his wife, Melissa Cohen-Biden, confronted former Trump White House aide Garrett Ziegler, who has been in the courtroom.
Ziegler, who worked on trade policy in the White House, was part of an effort by Trump allies to make public the contents of a laptop to embarrass Joe Biden’s son in the final days of the 2020 election. Hunter Biden sued Ziegler and the company he founded, Marco Polo, in September of last year, claiming they broke state and federal laws in an effort to create a searchable online database with 128,000 emails.
Ziegler has been in attendance both days of Hunter Biden’s criminal trial, where the first son is accused of lying on a federal form when he purchased a gun by saying he was not a drug addict.
While the trial was on break this morning, Ziegler and Cohen-Biden were both in the hallway.
Cohen-Biden approached Ziegler, pointed her finger at him and said in a loud voice, “You have no right to be here, you Nazi piece of s—.”
She then walked away. She eventually returned to the courtroom and sat back down in her seat next to first lady Jill Biden.
Ziegler did not respond to her in the hallway.
While the trial is unrelated to the laptop, both have served to make public Hunter Biden’s longtime drug addiction and surfaced embarrassing episodes in his life. Donald Trump and his allies have repeatedly sought to attack Joe Biden for the actions of his son, mocking his addiction and painting him as corrupt.
Asked afterward about the confrontation in the hallway, Ziegler told NBC News, “It’s sad. I’ve been sitting here the whole time and haven’t approached anyone.”
He added, “For the record, I’m not a Nazi. I’m a believer in the U.S. Constitution. I haven’t said one thing to them.”
Ziegler said it was “prudent” for him to attend the trial.
Asked about the encounter, Cohen-Biden said Ziegler has called her “the most horrific Jewish slurs,” adding that he should be asked why “he’s never called Jared Kushner any of those Jewish slurs,” referring Trump’s son-in-law.
When asked about the ongoing litigation with Hunter Biden, Ziegler called the suit “completely frivolous.”
Hunter Biden and Melissa Cohen-Biden were married in 2019. During opening statements, defense attorney Abbe Lowell told the jury that Cohen-Biden played a role in Hunter Biden finally becoming sober.
