Patrick Byrne, a millionaire businessman, founder of the online retailer Overstock.com and loyal ally to President Donald Trump, was ordered Friday to pay Hunter Biden $1.7 million in punitive damages over false claims, The Guardian reported Saturday.
Byrne, a prominent 2020 election denier, previously accused Biden of having sought a bribe from the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2021. Biden sued Byrne for defamation in 2023, and on Friday, U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson ruled that Byrne had made his false claims with “actual malice” and ordered the MAGA millionaire to fork over nearly $2 million.
“The evidence of Defendant’s hostility toward Plaintiff indicates bias and a particular motive for dishonesty in this case,” reads Wilson’s ruling, made in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
“Overall, in the totality of circumstances, by far the most plausible explanation is that Defendant is not credible, fabricates awesome and farfetched narratives to garner attention in the media, and fabricated the defamatory story at issue in this case to damage Plaintiff’s reputation.”
Before the ruling, Byrne had failed to appear for a jury trial in October, per The Guardian, an incident cited by Wilson in his Friday ruling as having delayed proceedings “at the expense” of Biden.
Byrne was also ordered to pay around $35,000 in court sanctions to Biden, The Guardian reported.
Wilson also cited Byrne’s past behavior in his ruling.
“The behavior – expressing hostility and malice toward a prominent public figure by repeatedly and intentionally damaging his reputation through the repeated publication of accusations that the individual engaged in high-stakes criminal activity with extensive implications internationally – is precisely what Defendant was already found liable for in Canada,” Wilson’s ruling reads. “Yet Defendant has persisted in that behavior.”