What we know about the Ziegler sexual assault probe

A planned three-way sexual encounter between Florida GOP Chair Christian Ziegler, his wife and Moms for Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler, and a woman they had sex with in the past ended in accusations of sexual assault against Christian.

As part of the investigation, law enforcement sorted through more than 250,000 photos and 30,000 videos from Christian's phone, as well as 1,200 text communications between Christian and his wife Bridget. The Zieglers filed an injunction to protect those records.

Some have been made public through records requests fulfilled by SPD. These messages gave insight into Ziegler and his wife's actions — including messages that detail the two "on the prowl" for a female sexual encounter at different bars, according to records obtained by the Herald-Tribune.

A judge ruled Monday that the police search of Christian's cell phone was illegal.

What was the result of the sexual assault investigation into former Florida GOP chair Christian Ziegler?

Police investigated sexual assault allegations against Christian Ziegler and obtained a video Ziegler took of the encounter, according to the Florida Trident. According to Trident's sources, Ziegler shot the video on his cell phone and the alleged victim can be heard speaking during the encounter.

After an investigation, Sarasota Police did not file rape charges against the former Florida GOP chair but asked the State Attorney's Office to review a related investigation into potential video voyeurism by Ziegler.

The State Attorney’s Office later declined to charge Christian with video voyeurism. Prosecutors said they were declining to pursue the video voyeurism charge because they found the alleged victim's statements inconsistent.

Who is Christian Ziegler?

Ziegler, 40, was born in north Georgia, outside of Atlanta, and raised by a divorced mom working multiple jobs. One of them was as an assistant teacher at a Montessori school, and she eventually started two schools of her own.

Ziegler graduated from Florida State University with a double major in criminology and political science in 2005 and worked on Congressman Vern Buchanan's successful first campaign. He followed Buchanan to Washington, D.C. as Buchanan's legislative aide and digital media director for four years and then returned to Florida to join a start-up tech firm in Sarasota.

He continued to work behind the scenes to support the GOP and become a public advocate for conservative principles. Ziegler was elected GOP state committeeman for Sarasota County in 2012 and ran for the Florida GOP chair in 2016 but lost to incumbent Blaise Ingoglia. In 2018 Ziegler was elected to the Sarasota County Commission and became vice-chair of the Florida GOP before winning the chairman seat in 2023.

What happened to Christian Ziegler?

It started with Gov. Ron DeSantis saying he thought Ziegler should "step aside," followed soon after by Florida's Senate president and House speaker. After that, many other voices joined the call for Ziegler's resignation from his post as Florida GOP chair, including Florida GOP Vice Chair Evan Power, the Sarasota GOP, U.S. Senator Rick Scott and a host of other politicians.

Ziegler was defiant and invoked former President Donald Trump when confronted with resigning. Multiple GOP sources say allies of Ziegler have floated the idea of offering him a buyout to resign from his party position amid a sexual assault allegation, but Ziegler denies he asked to be paid to leave.

The Florida GOP began the process of removing Chair Christian Ziegler, with the party's executive board voting during an emergency meeting to censure the chair, strip his authority and reduce his salary to $1. He was eventually removed from his position in January.

Bridget Ziegler faces fallout from sexual assault investigation and scandal

Bridget Ziegler, wife of Florida GOP Chairman Christian Ziegler and current Sarasota County School Board member, appeared to have resigned from her position at the Leadership Institute, a nonprofit that trains conservatives. Ziegler was the director of school board programs and trained activists and current school board members.

Moms for Liberty's co-founders distanced themselves from Bridget Ziegler, another of the organization's co-founders and current Sarasota County School Board member, following accusations of sexual assault against her husband, Christian Ziegler, by a woman with whom he and Bridget had a three-way sexual relationship.

Most recently, the Sarasota School Board approved a resolution calling for Bridget Ziegler to resign. Despite Ziegler's four board colleagues voting in favor of calling for her to resign and hours of public comment mostly urging her to do so, there was no indication she was considering stepping down.

As public comment passed the two-hour mark during that Sarasota County School Board meeting, former district student Zander Moricz - who was the class president at Pine View School in Osprey and now attends Harvard - took the lectern and gave a pointed rebuke of board member Bridget Ziegler in comments that have now been viewed millions of times on social media.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sex scandal former Florida GOP Chair Christian Ziegler Bridget Ziegler