SARASOTA, Fla. — New details in the Christian Ziegler scandal emerged with revelations from police investigation interview transcripts.
The Sarasota Police Department released several redacted transcripts of their interviews and conversations with the former Florida GOP chair after he was accused of rape in October by a female friend.
In the documents, Ziegler admitted to knowing the woman for at least the past 15 years and said he had been involved in what he described as "hook-ups" with the accuser several times in the past.
Also revealed earlier in the investigation was an admission by his wife, Sarasota School Board member Bridget Ziegler, that the couple had been involved in at least two consensual three-way encounters with the accuser.
Christian Ziegler also expressed concern to police about the political fallout of the rape allegations during the interviews.
Christian Ziegler: "So I'm chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, so there'll be a high public interest in the case."
Christian Ziegler: "I have to navigate this not just from the fact base, but from also a political, PR angle."
The above quotes were from an interview with police on Nov. 1.
Sarasota police released a set of 18 documents which included 10 interviews with the victim, Christian Ziegler, as well as his wife. The documents also include several controlled calls between Christian Ziegler and the accuser.
The investigation was sparked by a 911 call on Oct. 4, requesting a wellness check-in after the accuser hadn't shown up at work for two days.
Police said that when they went to the accuser's address, the long-time friend of Christian Ziegler alleged he had assaulted and raped her.
Victim: "I feel like I definitely was intoxicated enough that I was not in a place to consent."
Victim: "I just opened my door and he was just there."
Victim: "I said, 'How did you find my address?' I was panicked I didn't know what to do."
Detective Cox: "And what happened after that?"
Victim: "He took me over, he bent me over there, on the stools."
Detectives interviewed the accuser four different times, and at one point initially, she was unsure she wanted to pursue charges before deciding to do so.
Documents showed police observed the victim was at times "incoherent and distraught" and described her as "foggy."
In January, however, Sarasota police closed the assault investigation, citing a lack of probable cause and saying the incident "was likely consensual." But investigators further said Christian Ziegler recorded the October sexual encounter on his cell phone without the knowledge of the woman which prompted an investigation into voyeurism.
That aspect of the case is still pending a decision by the State Attorney's office, but at this time no criminal charges have been filed against Christian Ziegler.
Christian Ziegler faced immense scrutiny and condemnation from both the public and several of his political cohorts and eventually lost his post as Florida GOP Chair on Jan. 8.
His wife, Bridget Ziegler, who was not a party to the incident in question and was never a focus of the criminal investigation, was forced to step down from her position as director of the conservative non-profit Leadership Institute.
However, she has remained defiant in the face of several calls from the community to resign from her seat on the Sarasota School board over the scandal and the distraction it has caused.