Hunter Biden is suing former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne, accusing him of publishing false statements claiming he sought a bribe from Iran.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court in the Central District of California, claims Byrne in June falsely said Hunter Biden contacted the Iranian government and offered to have his father “unfreeze” $8 billion in Iranian funds in exchange for an $800 million bribe.
"These claims are complete nonsense," the suit alleges. "To falsely accuse [Hunter Biden] of engaging in these criminal acts is not only reckless and baseless but utterly outrageous and despicable, and it constitutes defamation per se."
Byrne "has been told that his allegations are false, that they are causing serious harm to [Biden] and that they should be retracted immediately. Rather than retract, however, Byrne has doubled down."
On X, formerly known as Twitter, Byrne wrote, “Hunter’s lawyers must be out of his mind.”
More than 100,000 people viewed Byrne’s social media posts about Hunter Biden and Iran, according to the suit.
The suit also alleges Byrne reposted his statements on Oct. 8, one day after Hamas attacked 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 says.
The report comes a day after the House Oversight Committee announced it had subpoenaed Hunter and the president’s brother, James Biden, as part of their inquiry into the Biden family’s business dealings.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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