Hunter Biden agrees to drop civil suit Rudy Giuliani and Giuliani’s former lawyer Robert CostelloThursday, according to a court filing.
Last year, the president’s son formlaccused Giuliani and Costello alleged that they manipulated data from his “devices or storage platforms” in violation of computer fraud and information access laws.
Lawyers for all three parties filed a settlement agreement in which Biden agreed to drop the lawsuit and each would pay their own legal costs.
The suit originally sought more than $75,000 in damages, as well as attorneys’ fees and other penalties.
“Since Guliani is in bankruptcy and has agreed to wait for the case to settle, it didn’t make sense to pursue it in non-bankruptcy court until that happens,” a person familiar with the filing told NBC News on Thursday.
Giuliani filed for bankruptcy protection After he was hit with a $148 million judgment in December for defaming two former Georgia election workers.
Attorneys for Biden, a representative for Giuliani and Costello did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the filing, which U.S. District Judge Jessica Clarke must review Thursday before it is finalized.
Biden alleged in September that Giuliani, Giuliani’s businesses, Costello and 10 unnamed individuals were “primarily responsible for what has been described as the “total destruction” of Plaintiff’s digital privacy.”
Biden’s attorney, Paul Salvaty, argued in his lawsuit that the defendants “spent an extraordinary amount of time and energy searching for, hacking, altering, manipulating, copying, distributing and generally dealing with information” that was “obtained or stolen.” Biden’s “devices or storage platforms.”
The lawsuit also alleged that Biden’s digital data was “manipulated, altered and corrupted” before being sent to Giuliani and Costello.
“Hunter Biden has previously denied having a laptop,” Giuliani adviser Ted Goodman said at the time.
“I am not surprised that he falsely claimed that the laptop hard drive was tampered with by Mayor Giuliani, given the salacious material and potential evidence,” Goodman said in a statement last year.
Biden filed suit in Central District of California; then moved to the Southern District of New York.
Costello was previously an attorney for former New York Mayor Giuliani and former President Donald Trump, but he sued in September. that argues Giuliani owes him $1.36 million in unpaid attorney fees.
Thursday’s filing comes two days after Biden’s found guilty on three federal weapons charges. He still hasn’t been punished. He will be tried in September on separate tax-related charges.
Sarah Fitzpatrick contributed.