Following the unsuccessful attempt of Hunter Biden’s defamation lawsuit against the ex-CEO of Overstock, in what appeared to be a chaotic trial this summer, Biden is now moving to secure an arrest warrant to ensure Patrick Byrne’s attendance in court, as indicated by a recent filing from Biden’s side.

Biden’s legal representative, Dick Harpootlian, a former South Carolina state senator who also represented the convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh, pressed U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson, appointed by Ronald Reagan back in 1985, through a motion submitted on Saturday, urging him to act on a previous threat of an arrest warrant, stating that tweets regarding the court’s orders have been overlooked.

President Joe Biden’s son lodged a defamation suit by the end of 2023 against Byrne, alleging that Byrne had accused him of “despicable and treasonous crimes” that involved bribery and connections with Iran. Biden claimed Byrne was informed of the falsity of his allegations and asked for a retraction, yet the defendant intensified his claims in subsequent posts, tying Biden and his alleged misdeeds to “the horrific terrorist attacks by Hamas on Israel.”

An effort to bring the case to trial derailed in July when Byrne unexpectedly dismissed his legal team, following which the judge opted to postpone the trial to October 14 instead of granting a default judgment in favor of Biden. From Biden’s perspective, it seems improbable that Byrne will heed court directives or attend the rescheduled trial, hence the call for his arrest — as financial penalties and the threat of contempt have proven ineffective.

“The defendant cannot be notified due to the absence of legal representation and failure to provide his contact details to the Plaintiff as mandated by the Court and its Local Civil Rules, ignoring Court orders,” the motion noted. “On August 29, 2025, the Court issued an Order to Show Cause on why Byrne should not face sanctions or be held in civil contempt, stating the need for notice and an opportunity for the Defendant to address the matter before issuing a formal contempt finding and further sanctions.”

“Defendant has ignored the Order as he has with the Court’s other prior orders,” the motion continued. “The Court has previously indicated that it is satisfied Defendant has received notice of its orders. Additionally, Plaintiff has undertaken extensive efforts to provide notice of the Order through Defendant’s X (formerly Twitter) account, which Defendant publicly stated he uses daily and is the best way to contact him and which Defendant authenticated at his deposition. Other federal courts in California have held such action is sufficient to effect service of process of overseas defendants.”

Because Byrne “refuses to obey the orders of the Court” and is a billionaire, hitting him with “a monetary sanction or default judgment” would not be enough to move him, the motion stated. As a result, an arrest by the U.S. Marshals Service is the “appropriate” course of action should Byrne also ignore a bench warrant, Biden insisted.

“Entry of a monetary sanction or default judgment would not obviate the need for the Court to use its coercive powers to enforce its orders in this case because Defendant is a billionaire who ignores court orders while concealing his assets overseas or in cryptocurrencies specifically created to evade governmental authority and who flouts this Court’s authority,” the filing said, seeking the warrant. “The appropriate sanction is to force Defendant to appear and defend (or confess) the case on the merits.”

“If Defendant does not arrange to appear in the courtroom to surrender to the warrant, Plaintiff requests the U.S. Marshals Service take and hold him in custody until he can be presented in person before the Court,” the motion concluded. “When Defendant appears before the Court, the Court would instruct Defendant how he may purge the contempt and be released. While that is a matter for the Court’s discretion, Plaintiff has suggested requiring Defendant to bond the case would be an appropriate method of purging his contempt.”

Byrne resigned from Overstock in 2019 after his self-described “trysts” with Maria Butina were revealed. Butina was prosecuted and convicted in 2018 for conspiring to act in the U.S. as an unregistered foreign agent of Russia, in a case that was unrelated to special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe but which nonetheless stemmed from Butina’s activities — prior to and during Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign — to leverage relationships in Republican circles, including high-ranking National Rifle Association contacts.

On Dec. 18, 2020, more than a month after Trump’s election loss, Byrne attended a heated hourslong Oval Office meeting involving the president, former national security adviser Michael Flynn, then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, Rudy Giuliani, and “Kraken” attorney Sidney Powell. Bandied about at the meeting were ideas to seize Dominion voting machines and even to appoint Powell as special counsel to investigate her never-proven stolen election claims.

In more recent months, Byrne’s move to Dubai “out of fear for his life” amid claims of a Venezuelan “bounty on his head” had put up a roadblock to Biden’s attempt to put him under oath for a deposition. Byrne apparently explained his move to Dubai was due to the belief that American law enforcement can’t “provide me with the safety I need for my personal safety,” adding that he had no plans to return to the United States at least until after the 2024 presidential election.