LOS ANGELES (CN) — A federal judge in California Friday awarded Hunter Biden $1.7 million in punitive damages in his defamation dispute against former Overstock.com CEO and 2020 election denier Patrick Byrne.

U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson had already indicated at a hearing in January that Byrne faced punitive damages after failing to defend himself against the claims by former President Joe Biden’s son. Byrne had claimed Biden had sought an $800 million bribe from Iran sometime in 2021.

“Here, the evidence is clear and convincing that defendant has engaged in intentional misrepresentation with conscious disregard towards plaintiff’s rights,” Wilson said. “Defendant’s defamation went far beyond mere negligence. In fact, defendant has admitted that after the offending article was published, defendant repeatedly reposted the article across social media platforms and encouraged his followers on those platforms to promote it further.”