Former President Biden’s son Hunter scored a win during his defamation case against former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne.
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According to The Guardian, a federal judge in California awarded the younger Biden $1.7 million in punitive damages during the case. Hunter previously filed the lawsuit against Bryne, a known Trump supporter who denied the results of the 2020 election and funded efforts to overturn them in 2023.
Biden accused the former Overstock.com CEO of lying. He said Byrne claimed he had previously sought an $800 million bribe from the Iranian government in the fall of 2021.
Byrne also claimed that Hunter had offered Iran to go to his father, who was president at the time, to have him “unfreeze” $8 billiuon in frozen Iranian assets. He also allegedly said he would ensure that the US would “go easy” on Iran during “nuclear talks.”
Biden described Byrne’s statements as “made, published, and repeated false and defamatory.” He also noted Byrne knew full well that the statements were false, but said them for “subjecting plaintiff to harassment, intimidation, and harm.”
On Friday, US District Judge Stephen Wilson of California said the court found “ample evidence” supporting a finding that Byrne knew the story was false and much of the narrative describing the “covert meeting” with an Iranian government official was fabricated.
“The evidence is clear and convincing that defendant has engaged in intentional misrepresentation with conscious disregard towards plaintiff’s rights,” Judge Wilson stated.
In addition to the $1.7 million, the judge previously ordered Byrne to pay Biden approximately $35,000 in court sanctions.
Hunter Speaks Out About the Ruling
In a post on X, Biden spoke out about the ruling and what that means to him.
“For those of you who don’t know Patrick Byrne, he is the former Overstock CEO who lost control of his company,” he wrote. “When it became public, he was sleeping with convicted Russian agent Maria Butina. He is the man who was in the Oval Office with Michael Flynn and Sidney Powell leading up to the January 6th insurrection.”
Biden called Byrne a “clownish footnote” in history, stating his lies travel far and wide. “He is a fraud who did the bidding of Doand Trump and Steve Bannon.”
President Biden’s son then said that his defamation lawsuit against Byrne isn’t the first one. He also doesn’t believe it will be the last, as he alleged Byrne continues to spread false information about others.
“Patrick will try not pay this judgment. He didn’t pay the $34,969 the court ordered six months ago either,” Biden continued. “His strategy is delay. Fire the lawyer. Skip the hearing. File nonsense with courts that have already ruled. Repeat the lie on Alex Jones while the clock runs.”
Biden pointed out that Byrne isn’t a whistleblower or spy. He is just a man who “got played by a Russian intelligence asset, lost his company over it, and has been performing a spy fantasy on the internet ever since.”