Title
John Paul MacIsaac sues Twitter over Hunter Biden's Laptop
Case Number
1:20-cv-25264-BB
State or Country
Florida
Judges
Judge Beth Bloom
Defendant
Twitter, Inc
Date
December 28, 2020
Type of Case
Defendant made false statements that Plaintiff is a ‘hacker’ in reference to materials obtained by the New York Post and shared on Twitter in an exposé concerning the contents of Hunter Biden’s computer hard drive
The Court the Case was filed in
United States District Court for eh Southern District of Florida
County/City:
Miami, Florida
Plaintiff
John Paul Mac Isaac
Comments
A Delaware computer repair shop owner sued Twitter, alleging the social network defamed him by effectively labeling him a “hacker” after his business was cited as the source for info obtained from a laptop allegedly owned by Hunter Biden that served as the basis for several New York Post articles published in October.A Delaware computer repair shop owner sued Twitter, alleging the social network defamed him by effectively labeling him a “hacker” after his business was cited as the source for info obtained from a laptop allegedly owned by Hunter Biden that served as the basis for several New York Post articles published in October.
In the lawsuit , John Paul Mac Isaac said he was forced to shut down the Mac Shop, his computer repair business in Wilmington, Del., after Twitter said the NY Post stories violated its “hacked materials” policy and initially disallowed users from sharing links to them. The Rupert Murdoch-owned paper claimed the material for its Hunter Biden exposés was supplied by Trump personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who allegedly obtained it from a MacBook Pro that had been abandoned in Mac Isaac’s shop.
In the lawsuit (at this link), John Paul Mac Isaac said he was forced to shut down the Mac Shop, his computer repair business in Wilmington, Del., after Twitter said the NY Post stories violated its “hacked materials” policy and initially disallowed users from sharing links to them. The Rupert Murdoch-owned paper claimed the material for its Hunter Biden exposés was supplied by Trump personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who allegedly obtained it from a MacBook Pro that had been abandoned in Mac Isaac’s
shop.
Mac Issac is demanding $500 million in punitive damages from Twitter plus unspecified compensatory damages and lawyers’ fees, as well as an order forcing Twitter to “make a public retraction of all false statements.” The lawsuit was filed Monday, Dec. 28, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
“Plaintiff is not a hacker and the information obtained from the computer does not [constitute] hacked materials because Plaintiff lawfully gained access to the computer,” the lawsuit says. As a result of Twitter’s citing its “hacked materials” policy for blocking the Post’s articles, Mac Isaac’s complaint says he “is now widely considered a hacker” and received negative online reviews and threats against his person and property. He claims he was ultimately forced to shutter the Mac Shop.
Judges Comments
Judge Beth Bloom said in a brief Monday sua sponte dismissal that was entered into the docket on Tuesday. “For a court to have diversity jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a), ‘all plaintiffs must be diverse from all defendants.'”
As a result, the judge dismissed the case without prejudice—meaning it could be filed again if Mac Isaac was able to establish that the court has jurisdiction to hear the case (he could also go to state court in Delaware).
“The Court cannot conclude that Defendant [Twitter] is a Florida citizen. The Complaint merely alleges that Defendant maintains an office in Florida, but it does not allege where the ‘principal place of business’ is located,” the judge said in a footnote.