Patrick Byrne hopes “there's a few shekels for me” from Trump's weaponization fund

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published

According to reporting, Patrick Byrne, a “multimillionaire and prominent election denier” and “one of corporate America’s most vocal proponents” of President Donald Trump's falsehoods about the 2020 election, “often pushed conspiracy theories and found himself ensnared in controversy — long before the former chief executive of online retailer Overstock promoted Donald Trump’s baseless claims of a rigged election.”

From the May 19, 2026, edition of LindellTV's The Absolute Truth with Emerald Robinson, streamed on Rumble

EMERALD ROBINSON (HOST): Patrick, what else is happening on the Hill is that Todd Blanche is on the Hill today, and he's been asked a lot. Most of the line of questioning has been related to this $1.7 billion weaponization fund that the president announced in recent days. And of course, I immediately think of you. You're one of those people that I think huh, now Patrick Byrne should be one of those people, along with the J6ers and so many others, that are a product — or excuse me, a recipient of this fund. Patrick —

PATRICK BYRNE (FORMER OVERSTOCK CEO): Yeah.

ROBINSON: I don't think people really know how much you've been — the government's been weaponized against you. It started before many of the others we even talk about. And how much money you've spent in trying to fight the weaponization. What do you think about this idea?

BYRNE: Well, I was weaponized against.

...

I will answer the second part of your question, that I've spent — my bookkeeper tells me, my accountant tells me I've spent over $100 million since this started. I spent about 50 on the America Project under the direction — Mike Flynn taught me how to get a movement going with money. And we did three things: Everything election integrity, everything border security, everything about medical freedom. So practically every group in America you heard standing up and, you know, everything from Moms for Liberty, fighting for elects — for moms standing up at PTA and fighting back against the LGB ideology being shoved down their kid's throat, the constitutional sheriffs, the anti-vaxx, but all that, we went through $50 million.

I also spent $15 million on lawsuits where I got the kinds of information — Listen, some of that information we walked in and gave the feds when there were actual feds back in after Trump came in, and they looked at some of these things and said, “We can indict people just off this one email.” And we're like, “We got — you got all day?” I mean, one email, you think — 

And then the third thing was we hacked Venezuela. We went after Venezuela. We did everything we can.

...

So I've blown $100 million, and I only did that because I had the big picture. I knew there was no way our country survived. I wouldn't mind —

ROBINSON: Yeah.

BYRNE: — if they throw me, if Todd throws me a couple shekels or Trump or whosever in charge of this. I — it's not Todd Blanche. It has to be — I think I heard his — Anyway, that's what I did. Yeah. So that's what I did. I never did it expecting I'd get paid back. I actually did a thing I wouldn't survive. So I think I told you that story. But —

ROBINSON: Yeah.

BYRNE: That's what I did. 

ROBINSON: [unintelligible]

BYRNE: So I hope there's a few shekels for me. But —

ROBINSON: I hope so too. I —

BYRNE: And I'd also point out one last thing. Mike Flynn and I — I mean, other than you — Mike Flynn and I are, like, the only public figures who stood by those J6 folks. We're the only public figures —

ROBINSON: Yeah.

BYRNE: — who went down — I spent a couple million dollars helping them, $1.5 million —

ROBINSON: Yeah.

BYRNE: — doing their legal fees and helping their families and all that kind of stuff.