Man Who Accused Hunter Biden of $800M Iran Bribery Scheme Now Owes Him $1.7 Million in Punitive Damages
Jeff Charles
Hunter Biden just won a major court victory in a defamation case he filed against former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne. A federal judge in California on Friday ordered Byrne to pay one dollar in nominal damages and $1.7 million in punitive damages.
U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson of the Central District of California issued the ruling that also grants Biden’s motion to enforce prior sanctions against Byrne that add up to $34,969.20. The ruling comes after Byrne’s repeated failure to show up for trial, his last-minute decision to fire his attorneys, and multiple violations of court orders.
Biden filed the lawsuit after Byrne participated in an interview with Capitol Times Magazine in 2023. During the interview, Byrne said Biden tried to leverage his connection to his father, former President Joe Biden, to obtain an $800 million bribe from the Iranian regime. The alleged scheme involved unfreezing $8 billion in Iranian funds held in a South Korean bank account and also giving favorable terms to the regime in negotiations related to the nuclear deal.
Byrne said he got this information from an Iranian official named Mehdi Firouzian, who relied on hearsay from the son of a Pakistani defense ministry official. Biden filed the defamation complaint in November 2023.
The court concluded that Byrne’s constant pattern of refusing to show up to court appearances and failure to comply with orders “was not a product of excusable neglect but rather of coordinated strategy.”
more
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/jeff-charles/2026/07/11/hunter-biden-wins-defamation-lawsuit-n2679242
