"We Have a Country to Save": Florida GOP Chair Refuses to Resign After Rape Claim

The chair of the Republican Party of Florida has declined to step down over claims that he raped an intoxicated woman who had no interest in sex with him unless he brought along his wife, cofounder of the conservative group Moms for Liberty, for a threesome.

Despite Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' calls for his resignation, Christian Ziegler clung to his post over the weekend, telling Republican party members, "We have a country to save."

"To my knowledge, my role in this investigation is complete and I now wait for law enforcement to finish the police report," Ziegler wrote in a December 2 email.

The Sarasota Police Department is investigating Ziegler over the alleged victim's claims that he entered her apartment on October 2 and raped her on top of a bar stool.

According to a warrant application, the woman told police she previously had group sex with Ziegler and his wife, conservative activist Bridget Ziegler, but made it clear to him she was uninterested in sexual encounters with him alone. She told police she was too drunk on tequila to consent to intercourse with Ziegler on the day of the assault.

In a police interview, Ziegler allegedly said he had recorded the encounter on video. Although he claimed to have uploaded a copy to his Google account, officers were unable to locate the file and applied for a search warrant requiring Google to hand over data from Ziegler's account, including videos and photos.

The warrant (attached below alongside the application) was issued November 15 in the Twelfth Judicial Circuit. A prior warrant was issued for Ziegler's cell phone on November 1.

Ziegler's attorney, Derek Byrd, denied the allegations against his client in a statement released after the Florida Center for Government Accountability brought the claims to light in a report last week. Ziegler maintains the encounter was consensual and that he's confident he will not face criminal charges.

"Unfortunately, public figures are often accused of acts that they did not commit, whether it be for political purposes or financial gain. I would caution anyone to rush to judgment until the investigation is concluded,” Byrd said.

The Fallout

Following his November 30 debate with California Gov. Gavin Newsom, DeSantis said Ziegler should step down for the good of the Republican Party.

"I don’t see how he can continue with that investigation ongoing given the gravity of those situations, and so I think he should step aside," DeSantis told reporters. "He’s innocent till proven guilty, but we just can't have a party chair that is under that type of scrutiny."

Ziegler's letter showed he remained defiant.

"My family is rock solid. My wife is behind me 150 percent and we have methods in place to protect our (three) children, just as we have with all previous attacks that we have faced," Ziegler wrote to party members over the weekend.

Florida State Senate President Kathleen Passidomo and Florida House Speaker Paul Renner added to the list of high-level Republicans calling for Ziegler's resignation.

Ziegler is a former Sarasota County commissioner who was elected chairman of the Republican Party of Florida in February 2023. He served on the Republican State Committee beginning in 2012 after working on congressional campaigns for Scott Brown and Vern Buchanan.

Ziegler's wife Bridget, a Sarasota County school board member, cofounded Moms for Liberty, a group that campaigns for parental participation in public school curriculum. By stoking conservative parents' concerns that schools are indoctrinating students with leftist ideas, the Florida-based group has galvanized a nationwide effort to purge classrooms of books and other educational materials that its members find too risque for children.

DeSantis has spoken at Moms for Liberty events, and his education policy is closely aligned with the group's mission to fight so-called schoolroom indoctrination. The Zieglers were staunch supporters of the governor in his re-election campaign.

Bridget Ziegler, who stopped working for Moms for Liberty in 2021, confirmed to police that she and her husband previously had a sexual encounter with the alleged assault victim, according to the warrant application. In a text message exchange between Christian Ziegler and the woman, shortly before the alleged assault, she appeared to express her lack of sexual desire for him by telling him via text, "Sorry I was mostly in for [Bridget]," according to the affidavit.

Florida Democratic Party chair Nikki Fried said in a November 30 statement that "what happens behind closed doors is Christian and Bridget's personal business."

"That being said, I do find it interesting that two people who are so obsessed with banning books about gay penguins might be engaged in a non-traditional sexual relationship," Fried said. "As leaders in the Florida GOP and Moms for Liberty, the Zieglers have made a habit out of attacking anything they perceive as going against 'family values' — be it reproductive rights or the existence of LGBTQ+ Floridians. The level of hypocrisy in this situation is stunning."

"Those Are Big Words"

According to the warrant application, Ziegler and the alleged victim have known each other for roughly twenty years.

"On 10/2/23, the victim and Christian Ziegler agreed to have a sexual encounter that included Christian's wife, Bridget Ziegler. When the victim learned that Bridget could not make it, she changed her mind and cancelled with Christian," the warrant application states.

Several minutes later, the victim opened the door to walk her dog and found "Christian standing outside in the hallway," according to a Sarasota detective. The victim told police he entered the apartment, bent her over a bar stool, and sexually assaulted her while she was heavily intoxicated from alcohol, police say.

After the woman reported the incident to police, investigators began monitoring communications between her and the Florida Republican Party leader.

In a late October exchange, the woman wrote to Ziegler, "I'm not okay with happened the other day between us," to which he allegedly responded, "Oh. That's not good. You are my friend. Known ya for like twenty years now. Lol."

Police say Ziegler then offered to meet and talk to the victim, prompting her to tell him, "Hell no, not after what you did to me. Do you not understand I am terrified of you?"

In a subsequent phone conversation, with police listening in, the victim confronted with Ziegler with her claim that he sexually assaulted her.

"Those are big words. Please don't. No, I didn't," he said, according to the police transcription. "You invited me in. That's it. I did not at all, and I never want you to feel that way."

During the conversation, the detective noted, Ziegler "asked the victim if she needed financial help or anything else."

"Christian said the victim was trying to get him on record saying something," police wrote in a call summary. "Christian once again asked the victim what he could do to help her. The victim told Christian to leave her alone. End of call."