Orlando sentinel:
A search warrant affidavit released Friday sheds more light on the sexual battery accusations Christian Ziegler is facing amid growing bipartisan calls that he should quit his job as Florida’s Republican Party chair.
The allegations are being brought by a woman who says she had a previous consensual sexual encounter that included Ziegler and his wife, Bridget, also a player in Florida politics, according to the affidavit.
The document obtained through a public records request corroborates details from anonymous sources that were first reported Thursday by the Florida Center for Government Accountability.
Ziegler has not been charged with a crime, and his attorney, Derek Byrd, says he will be cleared of wrongdoing.
Sarasota Police outlined the accusations when applying for a search warrant in the 12th Judicial Circuit for Ziegler’s cellphone, Google email and Google Drive.
Ziegler and the woman who he’d known for 20 years agreed to have a sexual encounter including his wife on Oct. 2, but the woman canceled when she learned Bridget was unable to make it, police said in the affidavit.
The woman told detectives she opened her door to walk her dog and Ziegler entered her apartment and sexually assaulted her, the affidavit states.
“The victim advised Christian did not wear a condom, and he stated ‘I’m leaving the same way I came in,'” the affidavit states.
Ziegler was on surveillance footage visiting the apartment, police said in the affidavit.
Ziegler told detectives in an interview with his attorney present he had consensual sex with the woman and took video of it, initially deleting it but then uploading it to his Google Drive since the allegation, according to the affidavit. Police said in the affidavit that they have not located the footage.
Bridget Ziegler told detectives she was involved in a sexual encounter with her husband and the woman once over a year ago, the affidavit states.
Christian Ziegler is facing calls to resign from both Gov. Ron DeSantis and Nikki Fried, chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party.
“I don’t see how he can continue with that investigation ongoing given the gravity of those situations,” DeSantis told reporters following his Georgia debate with California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday, according to NBC News. “And so I think he should step aside. I think he should tend to that.”
A heavily redacted Sarasota Police report released Thursday offered few details but included an accusation from a person who reported being “sexually battered” in an Oct. 2 incident at a home in Sarasota.
The redacted police report does not mention Ziegler by name but was released in response to questions about a complaint filed against him.
Although “innocent until proven guilty,” the GOP cannot have a party chair “under that type of scrutiny,” DeSantis said.
“I hope the charges aren’t true. I’ve known him, I’ve known [his wife] Bridget, they’ve been friends. But the mission is more important,” he said.
Bridget Ziegler, a co-founder of the conservative education group Moms for Liberty, serves on the board of DeSantis’ Disney World oversight district and also is a member of the Sarasota County School Board.
AND BBC:
Florida Gov Ron DeSantis says party chairman Christian Ziegler should resign, after being accused of rape.
www.bbc.com
