Ex-Overstock CEO Says He's a 'Whistleblower' With 'Tapes' That Can Defeat Hunter Biden

Former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne, who has long faced a defamation lawsuit from Hunter Biden, has made new claims in his defense. The businessman was on his way to receiving a default judgment in the case after repeatedly ignoring court orders and changing lawyers several times.

In a motion to set aside the default, Byrne’s attorneys called him a whistleblower who possesses tapes they say can prove his claims against Biden. The lawsuit stems from Byrne’s 2023 statements, in which he accused Biden of being involved in a massive international bribery scheme.

At the time, Byrne claimed that Biden reached out to Iran and told the regime that the Joe Biden administration would unfreeze $8 billion in Iranian funds in exchange for a $800 million kickback. He reposted these allegations on X on October 8, 2023, one day after the Hamas attacks on Israel.

Biden refuted the claims and filed a defamation lawsuit against Bryne in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in November 2023. He said in his complaint, “These defamatory statements by Byrne are not merely false and not merely malicious — they are completely outrageous.” Biden sought only $1 in nominal damages and fought the legal battle mainly over punitive damages.

However, Byrne avoided depositions for months, claiming that he was hiding in Dubai over fears of being killed by Venezuelan assassins. He later fired his lawyers, and U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson had to reschedule his trial.

In October 2025, the judge found him in default and later announced that he might be required to pay $5 million in punitive damages for failing to defend himself. Byrne then finally appointed Robert Tyler as his defense attorney. In an effort to avoid a default judgment, Byrne argued that he did not understand the developments in the lawsuit until Tyler joined as his lawyer.

Talking about how Byrne has evidence against Biden, his attorney wrote in the motion filing, “Defendant Patrick Byrne is an American whistleblower in his truest sense. His defense here is significant because it implicates serious national security concerns.”

“He presented audio tapes to the Federal Bureau of Investigation during President Joseph Biden's administration evidencing the veracity of his assertion Plaintiff Hunter Biden attempted to negotiate an illicit deal during President Barack Obama's administration to unfreeze millions of dollars, if not billions of dollars, of Iranian assets in exchange for receiving millions of dollars in cash from Iranian agents,” the document further read.

The court has yet to make a decision on Byrne’s motion. Hunter Biden is the second son of former President Joe Biden. He was earlier convicted of firearms-related felony and tax charges. However, he was pardoned by his father in December 2024.

Meanwhile, Byrne is known for promoting conspiracy theories. He has often claimed that the 2020 election was rigged against Donald Trump, though there is no evidence to support this claim. Byrne stepped down as Overstock CEO in 2019 after reports of his relationship with a Russian agent surfaced.