Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
WASHINGTON — 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 Oct. 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."
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.
