The long and strange intersection between former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne and the political universe of President Donald Trump took another turn this weekend.
According to The New York Times, a meeting at the White House on Friday night was called to discuss Trump’s strategy to reverse the loss of elections for Democrat Joe Biden. During the meeting, according to The Times, the idea of confiscating voting machines in several states was raised by Sidney Powell, Trump’s lawyer and former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Although not included in the initial report, Byrne was also present.
Multiple reports said the meeting heated up at times and turned into a screaming match, while White House aides pushed back Powell and Flynn’s suggestions for reversing the election.
Byrne attacked several White House employees for being insufficiently loyal to the president as he faces defeat and resigning on Jan. 20, tweeting: “For the first time in my life, I’m sorry for Donald Trump. He rose to his waist in snakes. Trust only Rudy and Sidney. “
Just last month, Byrne claimed that he was funding an army of “hackers and cybernetics” who would prove that the election results were “rigged” by Democrats to help Biden win. There is no credible evidence that the total votes were changed or manipulated.
On Sunday, Utah Sen. Mitt Romney considered Trump’s refusal to acknowledge his defeat and efforts to overturn the election results to be “sad” and “embarrassing.”
Since his loss, Trump has made repeated speculative statements about the election fraud that cost him his election. None of this has been proven. The latest target for Trump and his allies are two companies, Dominion Voting and Smartmatic, which they claim were either pirates or part of a large plot to deny Trump’s victory. Smartmatic has threatened a defamation lawsuit against Fox News and other right-wing media. Fox and Newsmax issued lengthy on-air statements, clarifying their reports on Smartmatic.
In the original and subsequent reporting on Friday’s meeting, it was said that the participants offered the possibility of using the army to confiscate the voting machines. Flynn previously called on the president to declare martial law and use the military to hold new elections in a series of states he lost to Biden in November.
Byrne disputed the claim that the military intervention was discussed at Friday night’s meeting, calling the reporting “100% fabrication.”
To prove his claim to be at the White House meeting on Friday, Byrne posted several pictures of him inside and outside the building.
On Monday, Attorney General William Barr said there was “no basis” for confiscating the voting machines, according to the Trump legal team.
It’s not the first time Byrne’s orbit has intersected with Trump. Earlier this year, Byrne claimed he was involved in a romantic relationship with Maria Butina, who was convicted of being a Russian agent. He said he was following this relationship at the request of businessman Warren Buffet and the “men in black”. He later resigned from Overstock after his claims shook investors.
Byrne did not respond to requests for comment from The Tribune.
