Left inset: Patrick Byrne, the former chief executive of Overstock.com and an ally of former President Donald Trump, takes a break from being questioned by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attacks, in Washington, Friday, July 15, 2022 (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite). Right: The U.S. Supreme Court is seen in Washington, D.C., July 29, 2024 (Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images).
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, without comment or explanation, jettisoned the long-shot bid of former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne to have the attorney of his choice defend him against a still-pending defamation lawsuit that Dominion Voting Systems first brought in 2021.
Much has changed since Dominion filed the case in the aftermath of the presidential election Joe Biden won, including a massive Fox News settlement, the return of President Donald Trump to power for a second time, and the recent sale of Dominion to Liberty Vote, founded by Republican former election official Scott Leiendecker.
A matter of days before the first reports of the sale, high-profile lingering Dominion lawsuits against former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and “Kraken” attorney of note Sidney Powell reached confidential settlements. Could the same outcome be on the horizon for Byrne?
Byrne is one of several figures who reportedly insisted behind the scenes at the White House in late 2020 and elsewhere that an international corporate cabal stole the election. Stefanie Lambert represented Byrne in the Dominion action, before the indicted Michigan lawyer was disqualified in a lengthy decision.
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In that August 2024 decision, a U.S. magistrate judge disqualified Lambert for “intentional, dangerous, and relentless misconduct,” a ruling that had repercussions for Lambert in her failed bid to represent Byrne against Hunter Biden”s defamation lawsuit in California.
Lambert vowed to appeal, but the appeal flopped at the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and ended at the Supreme Court on Monday.
Brought by attorney Peter Ticktin, Byrne’s petition asked the high court to answer whether Lambert should have been disqualified for violating a protective order through a discovery breach when that order was used to “shelter evidence of crimes” that Dominion categorically denied. Byrne also petitioned the court to decide if Lambert’s ouster violated the ex-Overstock CEO’s Fifth Amendment right to due process.
The latest update in the Dominion case at the U.S. District Court for the District Columbia is that the judge on Halloween ordered up a joint status report “on or before” Nov. 14.
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, wanted to know if a stay “should be lifted” so the case can proceed and, if so, what “motions remain live that the Court should rule on, and what the sequence of next events in this case should be.”
Law&Crime sought comment from Ticktin on the Supreme Court’s denial and the road ahead.
