A federal judge has awarded Hunter Biden $1.7 million in punitive damages plus additional sanctions against former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne over statements he had made linking the Biden family to an alleged scheme involving Iranian assets and the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks.
The ruling, handed down on Friday by District Judge Stephen Wilson in California, came after Byrne repeatedly stood by claims that Hunter Biden had pledged to influence his father, then-President Joe Biden, to unfreeze $8 billion in Iranian assets in exchange for an $800 million bribe.
The judge found that Byrne’s comments went beyond protected speech and showed intent to harm Hunter Biden’s reputation.
Byrne continued to stand by the allegations throughout the lawsuit, a point the judge took issue with in his ruling.
The ruling stated, in part:
“Here, the evidence is clear and convincing that defendant has engaged in intentional misrepresentation with conscious disregard towards plaintiff’s rights. Defendant’s defamation went far beyond mere negligence. In fact, defendant has admitted that after the offending article was published, defendant repeatedly reposted the article across social media platforms and encouraged his followers on those platforms to promote it further. In fact, during the pendency of this litigation, even while Defendant was defying the Court’s orders and failing to appear at hearings, Defendant appeared on talk shows and restated the same defamatory statements at issue in the case.”
Byrne initially made the allegations in a June 2023 interview and then amplified them on social media on October 8, 2023, the day after the Hamas attacks on Israel.
“The clear implication of Byrne’s October 8, 2023 posts was that Plaintiff’s allegedly criminal and corrupt actions had contributed to the terrorist attacks by Hamas,” the complaint, obtained by Mediaite, had stated.
Byrne alleged that Hunter Biden had brokered a corrupt deal involving Iranian money and implied that this corruption played a role in enabling the terrorist attacks.
Hunter Biden’s legal team argued that these claims were baseless and designed to damage his reputation at a time when the former president’s family was already under intense scrutiny over foreign business dealings.
Judge Wilson awarded the full $1.7 million in punitive damages that Hunter sought, along with $1 in nominal damages and roughly $35,000 in court sanctions against Byrne for his conduct during the litigation, including defying court orders and failing to appear at hearings while publicly repeating the claims.
Byrne, a longtime conservative activist and vocal supporter of President Donald Trump, became the target of the lawsuit after his comments gained traction in certain circles.
Hunter’s business dealings in Ukraine through Burisma, his work in China, and the contents of his abandoned laptop have led to a string of allegations that he engaged in influence peddling during his father’s time in office.
Bryan Sullivan, an attorney for Biden, told Courthouse News that, “This is a complete vindication for Hunter Biden against the false statements made about him by Patrick Byrne.”
“As found by the court, Byrne had no basis to say that Hunter had any involvement with Iran whatsoever,” Sullivan added.
Byrne has not publicly responded to the judge’s ruling.
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