FL GOP Ousts Christian Ziegler As Chair Amid Rape Investigation

SARASOTA, FL — Amid a rape investigation that has broadened to include video voyeurism, the Republican Party of Florida on Monday voted to oust Christian Ziegler as chairman, according to an NBC report.

The vote came during an emergency meeting in Tallahassee and party leaders then selected Evan Power, its former vice chairman, to serve as the state chairman. Power had the support of many GOP leaders, including Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Ziegler was not at the meeting for the vote, NBC News reported.

The vote was expected after a 39-0 vote on Dec. 17 during an emergency meeting of the party’s executive committee suspended and stripped Ziegler of all authority. Following that vote, he retained the title of chair, and had a salary of $1; Monday's 199-3vote ends Ziegler's role with the Florida GOP, CNN reported.

No charges have been filed against the GOP leader from Sarasota, who had been suspended by the party, though he’s been accused of rape and sexual battery in the Oct. 2 incident. Ziegler denies the allegations and claims he had consensual sex with his accuser, a woman he and his wife, Moms for Liberty co-founder and Sarasota County School Board member Bridget Ziegler, previously had a three-way sexual encounter with about a year ago.

“Christian Ziegler has engaged in conduct that renders him unfit for the office,” the party’s motion to censure Ziegler said, according to a document posted on the social media platform X by Lee County GOP Chairman Michael Thomason.

“As a result of such conduct and actions, Christian Ziegler has injured the good name of the Republican Party of Florida, disturbed its well-being and hampered the organization in performing its mission to support the principles, objectives, and values of the Republican Party and secure the election of all duly nominated Republican candidates,” the motion read.

Police filed a third search warrant in the investigation on Dec. 8 seeking records from Christian Ziegler’s Instagram account. Investigators previously requested his cell phone and Google records.

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• Christian Ziegler Recorded Sexual Encounter With Rape Accuser: Report

In the new search warrant affidavit, a detective wrote that she believes "probable cause exists to show (Ziegler) has utilized Instagram to commit the crime of Video Voyeurism,” the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported.

Investigators are seeking access to his Instagram messages, videos and photos, including those shared using the app’s “vanish mode,” which makes them disappear.

According to an earlier search warrant, Ziegler recorded a video of his sexual encounter with the victim, who told police she didn’t consent to being recorded, according to Politico.

Police were able to recover the video taken on Ziegler's cell phone earlier this month, according to a report from the Florida Center for Government Accountability.

Sarasota police would not confirm the existence of the video or the expanded investigation to Patch because of the ongoing investigation.

The victim told investigators that she initially agreed to have Christian Ziegler at her home the day of the incident because she thought his wife would join them, according to a search warrant shared by FCGA.

She canceled on Christian when she learned that Bridget Ziegler wouldn’t be there, messaging him, “Sorry I was in mostly for her.”

The victim said that Christian Ziegler showed up at her house anyway, entered her home and had sex with her without a condom. The woman later told a relative she was raped.

Christian Ziegler has maintained his innocence and said their sexual encounter that day was consensual.

On Nov. 2, he told investigators that he took a cell phone video of his encounter with his accuser, but initially said he deleted it. Police learned that after the allegation was made against him, he uploaded the video to his Google Drive, but they were unable to find it during an initial digital extraction, according to the search warrant.

Sources told the FCGA that law enforcement was eventually able to recover the video.
Ziegler’s brief video shows them in her apartment while she was bent over a piece of furniture in the bedroom, according to the report.

Surveillance video footage from the building also shows him arriving at her apartment, knocking on her door and walking inside. He and the woman are later seen leaving the apartment together, the report said.