Ex-Trump aide sued by Hunter Biden wants Biden-appointed judge off laptop case, fears '2020 all over again'

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Garrett Ziegler, a one-time aide to former President Trump who is being sued by Hunter Biden for publishing the contents of his infamous laptop, is seeking to have a judge who was appointed by President Biden removed from the case. Ziegler argues that the outcome of the lawsuit not only has implications for the congressional impeachment inquiry, but also the 2024 election.

In a recent motion in U.S. District Court for Central California, Ziegler's attorney, Robert Tyler, requested that Judge Hernán D. Vera recuse himself from the case because his "impartiality will be reasonably questioned." Vera made donations to Joe Biden’s campaign for president in 2020. He also was appointed to his position by President Biden just three months before Hunter Biden filed the lawsuit against Ziegler and one day after then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., announced a presidential impeachment inquiry had commenced in Congress.

Tyler emphasized that he is not arguing against Vera's integrity and assumes the court system assigned the judge to Hunter Biden's lawsuit at random.

"But there’s something called forum shopping that lawyers do," he told Fox News Digital. "And here’s a case where our client resides in Illinois, he has no contact with California such that California should have any