Florida Republican Chairman Christian Ziegler has claimed his innocence following a woman's claim that he raped her after she canceled plans to have sex with him and his wife.
Sarasota police are investigating an unnamed woman's claims that Ziegler sexually assaulted her after she withdrew from sex when she learned his wife, Moms for Liberty founder Bridget Ziegler, would not be present.
In an email to supporters sent Saturday, Ziegler, 40, said he and his wife are being targeted because they are “such loud political voices” — adding that he will not resign over the allegations. However, he did not elaborate on the specifics of the accusation that has roiled the state's conservative politics.
Meanwhile, a search warrant revealed that Bridget admitted to police that the couple had a sexual encounter with the accuser last year. In addition, Ziegler told investigators that he had had sex with the woman, but that it was consensual.
According to police documents, Ziegler claimed he filmed the encounter on October 2 before deleting the video and saving it to a Google Drive.
Florida Republican Party Chairman Christian Ziegler has claimed his innocence following a woman's claim that he raped her after she canceled plans to have sex with him and his wife.
An unnamed woman claims Ziegler sexually assaulted her after she withdrew from sex when she learned his wife, Moms for Liberty founder Bridget Ziegler (pictured with Casey Desantis), would not be attending
In his letter to supporters, Ziegler added, “We have a country to save and I will not allow false accusations of a crime to put that mission on the bench while I wait for this process to conclude.”
'My family is very strong. My wife is behind me 150 percent and we have developed methods to protect our (three) children, just as we have done in all previous attacks we have faced.”
The longtime Republican activist rose to the state party's top position in February.
Governor Ron DeSantis said last week that Ziegler is innocent until proven guilty but should resign to avoid becoming a distraction to their party, but Ziegler insists he won't quit.
No charges have been filed against Ziegler, but the Sarasota Police Department investigation remains open.
Together, the couple has a powerful influence in Florida's GOP politics
Police records showing the Zieglers had group sex with a woman have led Democrats and gay rights leaders to accuse the couple of hypocrisy, as an organization Bridget Ziegler co-founded — Moms for Liberty — has joined DeSantis and the Florida GOP in reducing LGBTQ+. causes.
Bridget Ziegler is also an elected member of the Sarasota County School Board and was appointed by DeSantis to the board that now oversees Walt Disney World's land development. DeSantis pushed legislation last year to dissolve a Disney-controlled board after the company opposed his bill limiting sex education in schools.
The rape allegation against Ziegler became public last week after the Florida Center for Government Accountability, an investigative news organization, obtained a police report and search warrant affidavits detailing the allegations.
The accuser's name is redacted in the documents.
The accuser, who has known Ziegler for 20 years, told police that when Bridget backed out of the plan to have sex, she sent Christian a text saying, “Sorry I was mainly after her,” according to an affidavit .
Later that night, the woman claims she discovered Ziegler outside in the hallway as she left her apartment – and claims he then entered her property and raped her.
Ziegler, left, greets former President Donald Trump at the RPOF Freedom Summit on November 4, 2023 in Kissimmee, Florida
Bridget Ziegler (left) helped create the framework for what would become DeSantis' (right) Parental Rights in Education Act, also called the “Don't Say Gay” law
Weeks later, detectives began monitoring Christian Ziegler's calls and messages to the accuser, the affidavit said.
'Where are you? Do you want to meet and chat? Worried about you. You are my friend,” Ziegler allegedly wrote in a message via Instagram.
“No, not after what you did to me,” the woman replied. “Don't you understand that I'm terrified of you?”
A 911 call obtained by the Florida Center for Government Accountability made by a friend of the alleged victim reveals that she had confided in the friend about rape.
“She told me she had been raped,” the friend told the dispatcher on October 4.
“She says she's scared, that the person who raped her has come to her house, so she's scared to leave… I'm worried about her now,” the friend explained.
In text and phone conversations tracked by investigators, Ziegler offered the woman “financial assistance” before he suspected they were being recorded.