Christian Ziegler investigation: New police records released in rape investigation of Florida GOP leader
SARASOTA, Fla. - Sarasota police released new documents Wednesday in their investigation of Christian Ziegler, the former Florida Republican Party Chairman who was accused of rape by a woman he knew for 14 years.
The records include details from a search of his phone, including messages between Ziegler and his wife, Bridget, in which she is reluctant about having a possible three-way encounter with the woman.
Police said during separate interviews with Ziegler, his wife and the woman, all three confirmed previous threesomes in which the sexual encounters were consensual.
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According to the police reports, on the date of the incident, the woman was expecting both Zieglers to participate, but prior to arriving, Christian Ziegler messaged the woman that his wife would not be with him. Police said the woman responded that Bridget was really who she was interested in and advised Christian not to come.
The woman told police he showed up anyway, and once inside her home, sexually battered her.
Christian Ziegler told police that the October 2, 2023, encounter was consensual. He told police he arrived and knocked on the door. He said the woman opened the door and invited him inside.
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He said they engaged in small talk before she began kissing him and things progressed from there. He also told police he had about a dozen previous consensual sexual encounters with the woman since they first met.
Police also interviewed Ziegler's wife Bridget, who said she was surprised by the rape accusation, but not by the extramarital activity. She confirmed she was involved in a threesome with her husband and the woman two years ago but said they had not arranged any further gatherings.
She told police she did not know when her husband last saw the woman.
The documents released Wednesday also detail a text conversation between Christian and Bridget, dated February 2, 2021, in which Bridget pushes back against Christian's suggestion that the three of them get together.
In the conversation, Christian tells his wife he thinks the woman is "hot" and he believes she is only into Bridget. He tells his wife the woman is an "alcoholic, nice person with some issues," but she had no drama.
Bridget responded that she didn't want to feel like they were "taking advantage of anyone" and said the woman "seems broken or going through some [expletive]. Bridget tells her husband "my nature is more likely to help her versus .. you know."
According to the report, Christian told his wife they "needed to hunt for someone new."
The search of Christian Ziegler's phone also turned up a list containing the names of several women. It was titled "THE LIST," and it included the woman's name under a subheading labeled with a slang term for sex.
The documents said after police interviewed Christian Ziegler on November 1, he conducted a number of Google searches on his phone, including searches for: "How prearrest criminal investigations work," "What is the average settlement for a premises liability sexual assault case," "Sue for false allegations," "Cost to file civil suit," and several other search phrases.
Police said Ziegler was cooperative throughout the investigation and provided them a copy of the sexual encounter, which he recorded on his cell phone. In a statement released January 19, police said "the video showed the encounter was likely consensual."
The statement said detectives were unable to develop probable cause to charge Ziegler with sexual battery. Ziegler maintained his innocence throughout the investigation. Police ended the investigation without any charges.