TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Newly-released audio recordings give insight into the Sarasota police investigation into Florida Republican Party chair Christian Ziegler, who was accused of rape.
The several audio files were released after police inactivated the case. They did not find probable cause to charge Ziegler with sexual battery.
Ziegler was accused of recording the encounter on his phone without the victim’s consent. The video led police to determine that the sex was “likely consensual,” but he now faces a video voyeurism charge.
Sarasota police forwarded a probably cause affidavit to the state attorney’s office. The state attorney must decide whether to officially charge him and prosecute the case.
After the investigation became public, Ziegler was removed from Florida GOP leadership. His wife, Moms for Liberty founder and Sarasota County School Board member Bridget Ziegler, was also involved in the investigation. She stepped down from her role at a conservative nonprofit after the investigation revealed she admitted to having consensual threesomes with her husband and the alleged victim in the case.
On Nov. 1, two detectives visited Ziegler at his home for an interview. According to the audio recording and transcripts, Ziegler asked the police several times throughout the interview about what is and isn’t public record and stressed that he was worried about the public finding out about the investigation. A portion of the interview, which has been edited for time, can be viewed in the video player above.
He admitted he was more worried about the public’s response to the investigation, rather than the serious accusation itself.
“So I’m chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, so there’ll be a high public interest in the case. I have to navigate this not just from the fact base, but from also a political, PR angle,” Ziegler said at one point in the interview.
“I’m more sensitive about the PR side, the political side, then I am about the facts,” he later stated.
He repeatedly asked the detectives if he should have a lawyer present during questioning, which is his right. They reminded him they were in his home, and he could ask them to leave at any time.
“So how does it work if I say I’m going to wait for an attorney? That’s probably the best,” Ziegler said after attempting to call a woman who did not answer.
After discussing the proceedings of the investigation, Ziegler said, “This is going to be not good.” It sounded like he tapped his fist the table multiple times.
At one point, Ziegler considered ending the conversation so he could consult with an attorney.
“Does that make me look more guilty?” Ziegler asked.
Transcripts of police interviews with Ziegler can be viewed at the link here: Christian Ziegler seemed more concerned about public perception of rape allegations, transcripts show
Detectives simultaneously interviewed Bridget Ziegler that day. In audio recordings of her interview, obtained by WFLA last week, she said it wouldn’t surprise her if her husband had an extramarital affair, but the rape allegation was “shocking.”
As the conversation wrapped up, Ziegler became quiet and asked if the victim was okay, or physically injured. A detective replied that she is struggling, but is “okay as she can be.”
Ziegler has faced calls to step down from her school board position since the investigation became public. At Sarasota County School Board meetings, residents accused her of hypocrisy for having sexual encounters with women, as Moms for Liberty championed the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill.