Episode Introduction
Former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne joined Sam Stone and Chuck Warren in March 2021 for the 11th episode of the show, then called Broken Potholes. He discussed his book The Deep Rig: How Election Fraud Cost Donald J. Trump the White House, By a Man Who Did Not Vote for Him.
Byrne, a libertarian who said he voted for Gary Johnson rather than Trump, argued that the 2020 election was decided by fraud in six swing-state counties. He criticized the Trump legal team and urged conservatives to train as poll workers. Byrne and Chuck Warren also revisited their earlier fight over Wall Street settlement practices.
Both hosts said on air that they had not accepted the theory of significant election fraud. This page presents what Byrne claimed and what later investigations found.
Quick Answer
In Breaking Battlegrounds Podcast 11, recorded in March 2021, Patrick Byrne claimed the 2020 election was stolen through fraud in six swing-state counties. Later reviews contradicted his main claims. Arizona’s Republican-commissioned review confirmed Biden won Maricopa County, Georgia dismissed the Fulton County “suitcase” allegations, and Michigan’s GOP-led Senate attributed Antrim County errors to human error.
Episode Overview
The conversation has four parts:
- Wall Street settlement. Byrne and Chuck Warren recall Byrne’s mid-2000s campaign against flaws in the Wall Street settlement system and the press criticism he faced. Byrne argues that experience mirrored how critics of the 2020 election were treated.
- Six counties. Byrne claims that pauses in vote counting in six swing-state counties on election night, plus ballot adjudication practices, point to coordinated fraud.
- The Trump legal team. He argues the president should have sent federal officials to recount paper ballots in those counties.
- Poll workers. He urges supporters to train as precinct workers ahead of the 2022 midterms.
The episode closes with Kiley Kipper’s Sunshine Moment on L.C. “Buckshot” Smith. Smith was 91 and the oldest police officer in Arkansas at the time.
About Patrick Byrne
Patrick Byrne is the former CEO of Overstock.com, which he led starting in 1999. He holds a PhD in philosophy from Stanford. After the 2020 election, he became one of the most prominent promoters of claims that the election was stolen. He funded efforts in Michigan and Arizona and produced the film The Deep Rig.
Byrne has faced several defamation suits since this interview. Dominion Voting Systems sued him in 2021 seeking $1.6 billion, and a federal judge later ruled that a reasonable jury could find he acted with actual malice. In July 2026, a federal judge awarded Hunter Biden $1.7 million in punitive damages against Byrne over his separate claim of an Iran bribery scheme. In October 2026, a Florida judge ruled Byrne not liable in a suit brought by former Dominion executive Eric Coomer, finding the actual-malice standard was not met.
Byrne returned to Breaking Battlegrounds in a later episode.
Key Topics Discussed
- Byrne’s claims about six swing-state counties
- Vote counting pauses on election night
- Ballot adjudication
- The Trump legal team’s post-election strategy
- Wall Street settlement and Byrne’s earlier fight with the financial press
- Recruiting conservatives as poll workers
- Media coverage of election fraud claims
What Byrne Claimed
During the interview, Byrne argued that stealing a national election would only require fraud in six counties: Clark (Las Vegas), Maricopa (Phoenix), Milwaukee, Wayne (Detroit), Philadelphia and Fulton (Atlanta). He said counting stopped in all six on election night and that large vote swings followed.
He described Fulton County election-night video as evidence of fraud. He claimed Maricopa County adjudicated 11% of ballots, and that adjudication software let workers move batches of ballots to one candidate. He also claimed Antrim County, Michigan audit logs had been erased.
Byrne said the president should have sent federal officials to the six counties to recount paper ballots on livestream. He asserted that this would have found hundreds of thousands of discrepancies in each county.
What Happened Next: What Investigations Found
The table below compares each claim with what later investigations found.
| Claim in the episode | What investigations later found |
|---|---|
| Counting in Fulton County stopped because of a “water pipe” | Georgia’s chief investigator found the leak was a urinal that overflowed early on November 3 and did not affect counting that evening. She also found observers and media were not asked to leave. |
| Fulton County video showed fraudulent ballots | Georgia’s State Election Board dismissed the case as false and unsubstantiated. Investigators from three agencies reviewed the full video, and the online “confession” was posted from a fake account. |
| Election workers committed fraud | A jury awarded the two Fulton County election workers more than $148 million against Rudy Giuliani for falsely accusing them. |
| Maricopa County results were fraudulent | The Republican-commissioned Cyber Ninjas review found Biden won by 45,469 votes, 360 more than the official canvass. |
| Antrim County, Michigan showed machine manipulation | Michigan’s Republican-led Senate Oversight Committee found the errors were human error, corrected and confirmed by a hand recount. It called manipulation claims “indefensible.” |
On January 28, 2026, the FBI executed a search warrant and seized Fulton County’s 2020 ballots and related records. The bureau gave no public details beyond calling it a court-authorized action, and Fulton County officials criticized the move. No findings had been made public in the sources reviewed for this update.
What the Hosts Said
At the end of the episode, Sam Stone said he had not subscribed to the theory of significant election fraud, and Chuck Warren agreed. Stone said he couldn’t independently judge Byrne’s technical claims about voting machines. Both said they wanted an open investigation that would show whether the election was clean.
Warren also condemned the January 6 attack on the Capitol. He said those involved hurt their own cause and should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. Byrne agreed that supporters should remain nonviolent.
Key Takeaways
- Byrne’s central claim was that fraud in six swing-state counties decided the 2020 election.
- Subsequent reviews, including Republican-commissioned ones in Arizona and Michigan, confirmed the official results in the places he cited.
- Georgia investigators and a federal jury found the claims against Fulton County election workers false.
- Both hosts said on air that they had not accepted the theory of widespread fraud.
- Byrne has since faced multiple defamation suits over his public claims, with mixed results.
Related Breaking Battlegrounds Episodes
- The next episode, Podcast 12: Dan McLaughlin on Biden press coverage, election security and baseball. McLaughlin argued for election reforms while rejecting machine-fraud claims.
- Maricopa County officials on the record:
- The Arizona review: Merissa Hamilton on the Arizona election audit
- Byrne’s return appearance: Inside The Enemy Within with Patrick Byrne
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Patrick Byrne claim on Breaking Battlegrounds?
In March 2021, Byrne claimed the 2020 election was decided by fraud in six swing-state counties: Clark, Maricopa, Milwaukee, Wayne, Philadelphia and Fulton. He cited election-night counting pauses, ballot adjudication and Fulton County video. Later investigations, including Republican-led reviews, contradicted these claims.
Did the Arizona audit find fraud in Maricopa County?
No. The Republican-commissioned review by Cyber Ninjas found Biden won Maricopa County by 45,469 votes, which was 360 more than the official canvass.
What happened with the Fulton County “suitcase” video?
Georgia’s State Election Board dismissed the case, finding the claims false and unsubstantiated. Investigators from three law enforcement agencies reviewed the unedited footage. A federal jury awarded the two election workers in the video more than $148 million against Rudy Giuliani for falsely accusing them.
What happened in Antrim County, Michigan?
Antrim County’s initial unofficial results were wrong because of human error by election officials. Michigan’s Republican-led Senate Oversight Committee found the corrected results were confirmed by a hand recount and called manipulation claims “indefensible.”
Has Patrick Byrne been sued over his claims?
Yes. Dominion Voting Systems sued Byrne in 2021 for $1.6 billion. A federal judge awarded Hunter Biden $1.7 million against Byrne in July 2026 over a separate claim. A Florida judge ruled in Byrne’s favor in October 2026 in a suit by former Dominion executive Eric Coomer.
Conclusion
This March 2021 episode records one of the most prominent voices claiming the 2020 election was stolen, speaking at the height of that debate. Investigations, audits and court rulings since then contradicted the episode’s main claims, including Republican-commissioned reviews in the states Byrne named. The page now presents both the claims and the record, so readers can see what was alleged and what was found.
Sources
- Protect Democracy: Jury awards Freeman and Moss $148 million
- 11Alive: Georgia closes “suitcases” case
- The Week: Georgia investigator on State Farm Arena
- Poynter: Maricopa review confirms Biden win
- National Review: Michigan GOP probe finds no widespread fraud
- CyberScoop: Coomer v. Byrne ruling
- WABE: FBI search at Fulton County elections office
Editorial Note: This article is intended for informational and analytical purposes. Political developments, policies, polling, and public statements can change over time. Readers should consult primary sources and official government information for the latest details.
