SARASOTA, Fla. — Sarasota police detectives have requested to search suspended Florida GOP Chair Christian Ziegler's Instagram account, believing that it may contain evidence of further crimes.
In addition to the ongoing rape investigation, Ziegler is now under investigation for video voyeurism, according to the search warrant.
Ziegler is accused of raping a woman with whom he and his wife, Moms for Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler, had a prior consensual sexual relationship. Detectives say he recorded the Oct. 2 sexual encounter and showed the two-and-a-half minute video to detectives, claiming the encounter was consensual.
The search warrant obtained by 10 Tampa Bay details the accusations against Ziegler and communications he had with the woman involved in the case.
Detectives say the woman and Ziegler have known each other for 20 years and agreed to have a sexual encounter involving Bridget Ziegler. But when the woman learned Bridget could not make it on the day they had planned, she reportedly canceled.
According to the court documents, Ziegler still showed up at her apartment, came inside and had sex with her. The woman reportedly told detectives that "when Christian came over, she was not in a place to consent because it was her day off and she had been drinking tequila all day."
Detectives say they searched the woman's phone and found several text and Instagram messages exchanged with Ziegler.
"The victim said Christian liked to use Instagram because he conceals the messages using vanish mode," the warrant reads.
Several Instagram and phone conversations recorded by police as part of the investigation show the woman telling Ziegler she was "not okay with what happened" and "terrified" of him. Ziegler was recorded saying "so sorry you got upset" and explaining that he did not mean to hurt the woman because they had been friends for so long, the documents show.
When the woman told Ziegler he sexually assaulted her, he reportedly responded, "Those are big words, please don't, no I didn't. You invited me in, that's it. I did not at all, and I never want you to feel that way."
Although Ziegler's lawyers claimed he sent the video of the sexual encounter to the woman on Instagram vanish mode, detectives claim that neither the woman nor Bridget Ziegler knew anything about the video being recorded.
Because the messages disappeared after being sent in vanish mode, Sarasota police detectives are requesting that Meta — Facebook and Instagram's parent company — provide access to Ziegler's account, "chrismziegler."
Ziegler has maintained that the encounter was consensual and has not been charged with any crimes in this case. He has been suspended from his role in the Republican Party of Florida following calls from Gov. Ron DeSantis and other top officials for him to step down.
The accusation also has caused turmoil for Bridget Ziegler, an elected member of the Sarasota School Board. The board asked her to step down last month and she refused.
The couple have been outspoken opponents of LGBTQ+ rights, and their relationship with another woman has sparked criticism and accusations of hypocrisy.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.