The former chief executive of Overstock.com announced that he's dumped all of his equity holdings in the company over the past week and blamed both the "deep state" and the government for his sale.

In a cryptic message to "Erstwhile Teammates" on his personal website, Patrick Byrne on Wednesday attempted to explain the reasoning behind his departure from the internet retailer that sells discount furniture and bedding.

"The riff-raff will tell you that my departure and sale were from a lack of confidence in what I left behind in Peace Coliseum: they are wrong, and I would like to tell you all the actual reasons before the yuck-yucks spin the truth," the former CEO wrote.

"The proximate cause for my departure was, in fact, the impossibility of our getting corporate insurance with me still at the helm," he explained. "Just as we learned in Game of Thrones that behind the scenes the Iron Bank makes the big decisions, in Corporate America insurance companies get the last say."

Overstock shares fell more than 6% Thursday following release of the letter.

Byrne resigned from the e-commerce company in August, just 10 days after first making comments about his role in the "deep state" and his involvement in the federal government's investigation into the 2016 election. His Wednesday letter also made reference to his supposedly role in the state.

"You think me controversial now, but you ain't seen nothing yet. I know enough to fry the Deep State to ashes. The Deep State and the oligarchy are entwined, and they won't die quietly," he wrote. "If I had stayed at Overstock or even remained a large owner of OSTK, they would try to break Overstock as a way of crippling me."

A filing at the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday showed he gifted 87,000 shares and sold his remaining 4.7 million.

Before Byrne's exit in August, he issued a news release on Overstock's website detailing his involvement in what he characterized as the "'Clinton Investigation'" and the "'Russian Investigation'" starting in 2015. Byrne added that the third time in his life he'd helped the "Men in Black," an apparent reference to law enforcement officials.

The former CEO's comments have taken a toll on the company's shares since his resignation. The stock is down 14% over the last month, but have otherwise kept pace with the broader market in 2019.

Read the full letter from Byrne below: