A California federal judge has awarded Hunter Biden $1.7 million in punitive damages in his defamation lawsuit against former Overstock.com CEO and Trump supporter Patrick Byrne.
U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson had said at a hearing in January that Byrne would face punitive damages after “failing to defend himself” against the claims by the controversial son of former President Joe Biden, Courthouse News Service reported.
The defamation stems from a claim by Byrne that the younger Biden had sought an $800 million bribe from Iran sometime in 2021. Biden sued the former CEO for publicly making that allegation.
Specifically, Byrne’s repeatedly claimed the son that had sought the bribe from Iran in exchange for persuading his father, who was president at the time, to release $8 billion in frozen Iranian assets and ease pressure during nuclear negotiations.
Judge Wilson, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, stated in his award:
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.
Wilson also slammed Byrne for the “three ring circus” tactics to delay the trial of the lawsuit. They included a proceeding in downtown Los Angeles last July where Byrne fired his legal team on the first day of trial and then failed to show up in person as his then-attorney had promised, according to Courthouse News.
“Defendant has sustained a campaign of dilatory tactics that have indefinitely extended this years-long litigation, while denying plaintiff his day in court,” Wilson wrote. “This was not a product of excusable neglect but rather of coordinated strategy.”
“The judge awarded Biden the $1 in nominal damages he had sought and ordered Byrne to pay the $34,969.20 in court-ordered sanctions he already owes within 14 days. The sanctions will increase by $1,000 for each day Byrne fails to pay them after the 14-day period,” the legal news outlet reported.
Bryan Sullivan, Biden’s attorney, praised the judge’s decision.
“This is a complete vindication for Hunter Biden against the false statements made about him by Patrick Byrne,” Sullivan said “As found by the court, Byrne had no basis to say that Hunter had any involvement with Iran whatsoever.”
Byrne or his attorney has yet to comment on the award.
In media coverage, the multimillionaire has been called a “prominent election denier” who wrote “six-figure checks to far-right groups that push voting conspiracies in Arizona, Michigan and elsewhere” in the 2020 election that result in the defeat of then-incumbent Donald Trump by Joe Biden.
While the punitive award is a handsome one by lawsuit standards, Biden is faced with “several millions dollars” in debt from the legal fees of fighting his previous federal cases, according to his own court filings last year.
Biden has also acknowledged receiving millions in loans from Hollywood attorney Kevin Morris, who reportedly bankrolled his legal defense over the past five years.
Just before he left office, President Joe Biden pardoned his son before federal judges in California and Delaware were scheduled to sentence him for criminal convictions for tax evasion and lying on a firearm application, the offenses committed during the period he was addicted to drugs.
Breitbart contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of the Los Angeles crime novel Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
