Hunter Biden, the president’s son, has filed a defamation lawsuit against Overstock’s former CEO Patrick Byrne, accusing him of publishing false statements claiming Biden sought a bribe from Iran.
Byrne, according to the lawsuit, published false statements in June claiming Biden was “reaching out to the Iranian government in the fall of 2021” and offering to have his father, President Joe Biden, “unfreeze $8 billion in Iranian funds” in return for $800 million.
Lawyers for Hunter Biden insist these statements are “completely false and that Bryne knew them to be false.”
The suit also alleges that Byrne, a Donald Trump ally, reposted his statements on October 8, after the terrorist attacks by Hamas on Israel. Biden’s attorneys claim that Byrne was trying to imply that Biden had “led to the deaths of more than 1,400 innocent civilians.”
The lawsuit is the latest in a series of legal actions the president’s son has taken against his detractors as part of a more aggressive public relations and legal strategy. He has also filed lawsuits against Rudy Giuliani, former Trump White House aide Garrett Ziegler and the IRS.
Earlier this month he published an op-ed in USA Today about the political “weaponization” of his addiction.
A lawyer representing Byrne declined to comment in response to the lawsuit.
On Capitol Hill, Republicans have been pouring over Hunter Biden’s bank records and foreign business dealings for months as they probe whether the president committed an impeachable offense in connection to his family’s foreign business dealings – a high bar they have yet to meet.
The House Oversight Committee announced Wednesday it had subpoenaed Hunter and the president’s brother, James Biden as part of their inquiry.
