Donald Trump's Oval Office guest, ex-Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne, spreads conspiracy theory that Nashville suicide bombing was a 'missile strike' on a 'spy hub'
President Donald Trump's ally Patrick Byrne, the former Overstock.com CEO, tweeted out a conspiracy theory Sunday about the Nashville bombing.
'No inside information, but the Directed Energy Weapon explanation is plausible,' Byrne wrote, linking to a webpage that said the Tennessee city was hit by a 'missile strike' that targeted a 'spy hub' used by AT&T and the National Security Agency.
Federal and local authorities have said that the Christmas morning explosion came from a bomb inside a recreational vehicle put there by suspect Anthony Quinn Warner, who died in the blast.
Former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne (left), an ally of President Donald Trump (right) who recently visited the White House for a meeting on the president's election loss tweeted a conspiracy theory Sunday about the Nashville Christmas day bombing
Patrick Byrne linked to a webpage that falsely claimed that the Nashville bombing was really a 'missile strike' trying to take out a facility that was used by both AT&T and the National Security Agency
Patrick Byrne said he was in a December 18 Oval Office meeting with President Donald Trump and his advisers, where they reportedly discussed how to overturn the election results and things got heated
Patrick Byrne took a selfie outside the White House decorated for Christmas. He was at a December 18 meeting with President Donald Trump and advisers where they discussed whether Sidney Powell should be named special counsel to look into the 2020 election
Patrick Byrne shared a selfie of himself at the White House complex. He's posing in the hallway of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building
Linking the December 25 incident to the 2020 election, the conspiracy theory Byrne shared reads that 'the blast appears to have been intended to halt a Dominion voting machines audit that was about to take place in the building as well, although that has not yet been confirmed.'
Byrne left Overstock.com in 2019 after he was romantically linked to Russian agent Maria Butina, who had embedded herself in conservative circles.
He most recently was part of a raucous Oval Office meeting with Trump and his advisers on December 18.
The New York Times reported the meeting featured a discussion over whether lawyer Sidney Powell should be named a special counsel overseeing a probe into voter fraud.
Powell has asserted, among other conspiracy theories, that Trump lost the election thanks to voting machines rigged by the Venezuelans, which is false.
The Times also reported that the meeting sometimes became a shout-fest.
The paper did not report Byrne's involvement.
But he revealed his presence in a series of tweets in the meeting's aftermath.
'My involvement is I was in the room when it happened. The raised voices included my own. I can promise you: President Trump is being terribly served by his advisers. They want him to lose and are lying to him,' Byrne wrote in a December 20 tweet. 'He is surrounded by mendacious mediocrities.'
Byrne also pushed back on The Times' reporting that said Gen. Michael Flynn's idea to 'rerun' the election using the military was asked about by Trump.
'In addition, any suggestion if there was talk of a military coup or martial law is also flat lie. 100% fake. I was there for 4 /12 hours, I heard the entire conversation, that is 100% fabrication.'
In another tweet, Byrne suggested that Trump only trust Powell and his personal attorney, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
'For the first time in my life I feel sorry for Donald Trump,' Byrne wrote. 'He is standing up to waist in snakes. Trust Rudy and Sidney only.'
In the Times report, White House counsel Pat Cipollone and Chief of Staff Mark Meadows pushed back on the ideas being proposed by the others.
The president has yet to concede the election to President-elect Joe Biden.
White House spokesman Judd Deere initally put out a statement responding to the Nashville Christmas Day bombing, but Trump - who's on holiday at his Palm Beach, Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago - hasn't spoken of it since.
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