Hunter Biden has formally requested to drop a lawsuit he filed against former Trump aide Garrett Ziegler, citing financial hardship and personal challenges as key reasons for stepping away from the case.

In documents filed this week in a California federal court, attorneys representing Biden asked U.S. District Judge Hernan D. Vera to dismiss the lawsuit that was originally filed in September 2023. The case centered on allegations that Ziegler and his research group, Marco Polo, unlawfully published tens of thousands of emails believed to have come from a laptop once associated with Biden.

Biden’s legal team explained that his financial circumstances have significantly worsened in recent months, limiting his ability to continue the lawsuit. According to the filing, Biden now faces “substantial debt” and has seen a steep decline in income. These challenges, the filing said, were made worse by recent wildfires in the Pacific Palisades, which rendered his rental home uninhabitable and disrupted his living situation.

“Mr. Biden has had difficulty finding a new permanent place to live,” the filing stated, “and has found it challenging to earn a living amid these circumstances.”