Police investigating Florida GOP Chairman Christian Ziegler for alleged video voyeurism
Sarasota police are investigating whether Florida Republican Party Chairman Christian Ziegler illegally videotaped a sexual encounter with the woman who has accused him of raping her last fall, according to a search warrant affidavit.
Ziegler previously showed detectives a two-and-a-half-minute-long video of the Oct. 2 sexual encounter that is now at the center of a months-long sexual assault investigation involving the Florida GOP chairman. During a November interview with investigators, Ziegler’s attorney Derek Byrd mentioned that the alleged victim had messaged Ziegler on Instagram after the encounter to ask if he had shown the video to his wife Bridget Ziegler.
According to the Dec. 8 search warrant affidavit, that message was allegedly sent in Instagram’s “vanish” mode, which makes content — including messages, photos and videos — disappear after being viewed.
The alleged victim told investigators that she did not give Ziegler consent to record the video of the encounter, while Bridget Ziegler, Christian’s wife, also told detectives that she had not been aware of the video’s existence, according to the affidavit.
READ MORE: Rape accusation details revealed in search warrant records against Florida GOP chairman
Cops want to see Ziegler’s Instagram account
The search warrant, which was first reported by the Florida Center for Government Accountability, seeks access to Ziegler’s Instagram account, where detectives say they may find evidence of the alleged crime.
Under Florida law, it’s illegal to record another person “for his or her own amusement, entertainment, sexual arousal, gratification, or profit, or for the purpose of degrading or abusing” them.
The revelation that the criminal investigation into Christian Ziegler has expanded to include alleged video voyeurism adds to the already-deep challenges facing the Florida GOP chair since the sexual assault accusations first came to light in late November.
The allegations against Ziegler center on an Oct. 2 encounter between Ziegler and a woman he has known for about 20 years. According to search warrant affidavits, Christian and Bridget Ziegler had made plans to have sex with the woman.
The woman canceled with Christian Ziegler after she was told that Bridget was unable to make it, according to the affidavits. Christian then proceeded to show up at the woman’s apartment where she alleges he raped her. Christian has insisted that the encounter was consensual.
The investigation is still ongoing and no charges have been filed against Christian Ziegler or anyone else. Byrd, the attorney representing Ziegler, declined to comment on the video voyeurism allegation, but said that he is hopeful that the investigation would be closed soon.
Byrd has previously said that Ziegler will be exonerated.
Fallout from investigation
Regardless of whether Ziegler is ultimately charged in the case, both he and his wife have faced immense political fallout. The Florida GOP’s executive board voted last month to strip Ziegler of virtually all his party authority and suspend his $120,000-per-year salary.
READ MORE: Florida Republicans censure state GOP chairman, cut salary to $1 after rape allegation
Party leaders are expected to meet again in January to decide whether to remove Ziegler from the chairmanship altogether.
Bridget Ziegler, a member of the Sarasota County School Board, has also faced intense scrutiny for her involvement in the planned rendezvous with the alleged victim. Both she and her husband have been influential in the conservative parents’ rights movement in Florida and have espoused the need for traditional values and conservative principles in education, often at the expense of LGBTQ students.
During the course of the criminal investigation into her husband, Bridget Ziegler acknowledged that she and Christian previously had sex with the alleged victim over a year earlier.
Bridget Ziegler’s fellow School Board members voted unanimously last month to call for her to voluntarily step down from her post. She has so far declined to do so.
This story was originally published January 2, 2024 at 6:04 PM.