Disgraced former Florida GOP Chairman Christian Ziegler won’t be charged in sex tape scandal

Former Florida Republican Party Chairman Christian Ziegler, who was removed from office amid a sex scandal, will not face any charges related to an alleged sex tape, the state attorney’s office said in a memo on Wednesday.

The state attorney’s office said there was not enough evidence to support a criminal charge of video voyeurism — it would have to be proven that the sex tape was filmed without the woman in the video’s knowledge.

The woman in the video previously claimed she was unaware the video was being made but later told the state attorney’s office she could not remember if she had consented to the taping. The video was also not filmed in a way that proved the camera was hidden, assistant state attorneys S. Ethan Dunn, Kate Metz, and Brian Chambers said in the memo obtained by the Orlando Sentinel. 

Florida GOP Chairman Christian Ziegler addresses attendees at the Republican Party of Florida Freedom Summit on Nov. 4, 2023, in Kissimmee, Florida. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File) Sexual battery charges against Ziegler were dropped in January after the Sarasota Police Department said the actual sexual acts in the video were “likely consensual.” 

The new dismissal ends the monthslong investigation into Ziegler, which resulted in his ousting as party chairman. Ziegler and his team have claimed the charges were politically motivated, but the memo stated there was “no apparent evidence that the victim in this case had any financial, political, or malicious personal motivation to report this incident and initiate a police investigation into [Ziegler].”

Ziegler was also censured by the state Republican Party, which claimed he “engaged in conduct that renders him unfit for the office of Chairman … [and] has injured the good name of the Republican Party of Florida.”

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

The investigation also required an acknowledgment of previous sexual encounters with the woman, from Ziegler and his wife Bridget, who also had sexual encounters with the woman. Bridget Ziegler sits on the Sarasota School Board and the tourism board overseeing Walt Disney World. Bridget Ziegler was not facing any criminal charges.

The Sarasota School Board has called for Bridget Ziegler’s resignation over the sex scandal, but she has not resigned from either board.

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases