Federal judge awards Hunter Biden $1.7 million in defamation suit against former CEO of Overstock

A federal judge awarded Hunter Biden $1.7 million in his defamation lawsuit against former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne. 

The lawsuit stemmed from comments Byrne made in 2023, claiming that Biden told the Iranian government in 2021 that President Joe Biden would release $8 billion in Iranian funds in exchange for a bribe, NBC News reported. 

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson said that the court found plenty of evidence that Byrne knew the story was false and continued to make the same claims publicly while the case wound through court. The judge called it a "coordinated strategy" that was "motivated to defame" Biden. 

Wilson issued his ruling on Friday and formally entered the judgment on Wednesday.