https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/25/politics/dominion-lawsuit-giuliani/index.html
(CNN)An election technology company that has been the focus of consistent conspiracy theories by Donald Trump and his allies has sued the former President's lawyer Rudy Giulianifor defamation after he pushed the "Big Lie" about election fraud on his podcast and TV appearances.
Dominion Voting Systems is seeking more than $1.3 billion in damages.
"Just as Giuliani and his allies intended, the Big Lie went viral on social media as people tweeted, retweeted, and raged that Dominion had stolen their votes. While some lies -- little lies -- flare up on social media and die with the next news cycle, the Big Lie was different," lawyers for Dominion wrote in the lawsuit, filed in DC District Court on Monday morning. "The harm to Dominion's business and reputation is unprecedented and irreparable because of how fervently millions of people believe it."
The lawsuit notes that while Giuliani spread falsehoods about Dominion being owned by Venezuelan communists and corrupting the election, he did not make those claims in lawsuits he pushed on behalf of Trump.
"Dominion's defamation lawsuit for $1.3B will allow me to investigate their history, finances, and practices fully and completely," Giuliani told CNN in a statement Monday. "The amount being asked for is, quite obviously, intended to frighten people of faint heart. It is another act of intimidation by the hate-filled left-wing to wipe out and censor the exercise of free speech, as well as the ability of lawyers to defend their clients vigorously."
He said he will "investigate a countersuit against them for violating these Constitutional rights."
This is the second defamation lawsuit Dominion has filed in recent weeks seeking to recoup its losses following the Trump post-election disinformation campaign. The vote auditing company previously sued lawyer Sidney Powell, who pushed similar claims alongside Giuliani. The Powell lawsuit is still in its earliest stage.
Dominion has positioned itself in recent weeks as a major voice to push back against Trump's false election claims and the insurrection of the Capitol by his followers who hoped to overturn Joe Biden's win.
In the lawsuit Monday, the company focused on how Giuliani continued to claim without evidence that Dominion aided election fraud even after he received a cease-and-desist letter. The Canadian-founded company details how listeners of Giuliani reacted by amplifying online his message of a stolen election. The former mayor of New York and well-known prosecutor repeated his claims on podcasts and his radio show and YouTube shows. He also used his platform in recent months to make money pitching cigars, a conservative alternative to the AARP and the sale of gold coins, the lawsuit says.
Giuliani also appeared on TV networks OANN, Fox and Fox Business to make accusations of election fraud, the lawsuit notes.
Dominion also details how on January 6 -- hours before a crowd of Trump supporters in Washington violently overran the Capitol -- Giuliani continued to push claims of election fraud about Dominion in tweets, on a YouTube appearance and in his own speech at the event. Giuliani said at the rally, without evidence, that he knew of an expert who had examined Dominion voting machines and saw changed votes, concluding, "This election was stolen," according to the complaint.
Dominion sent Giuliani a second letter, asking for a retraction on January 10, the company says.
"Giuliani has not retracted his false claims about Dominion, and many of his false and defamatory television and radio appearances and tweets remain available online to a global internet audience. Indeed, to this day, he continues to double down on the Big Lie," the lawsuit noted.
Dominion said it is now distrusted by millions of American voters and its employees have been harassed. The company believes hundreds of its contracts with states and localities are now in jeopardy and that the business projects a loss of profits in the next five years of $200 million, according to the lawsuit.
Tom Clare, a lawyer for the company, said it may seek to depose Giuliani as part of the lawsuit.
When asked on a call with the media Monday if Dominion plans to sue Trump himself, Clare said, "We're not ruling anybody out."
Previously, when Dominion sued Powell, the company said it was planning to bring additional lawsuits and was also looking at possibly suing media organizations that gave platforms to election disinformation. Clare said the same thing about Trump then -- that the company hadn't ruled out anyone yet as it plans additional litigation.
"There are a number of individuals and media companies that we think are complicit. They said them in their own voice, in their own personalities and in print, and they provided a platform," Clare said previously, after the Powell lawsuit was filed on January 8.
"There will be others" sued, Clare said on Monday.
Powell has made a variety of baseless accusations of wrongdoing concerning Dominion, some of which have fueled conspiracy theories pushed by the president.
Dominion Voting Systems, one of the biggest election equipment manufacturers in the U.S. and the subject of numerous incoherent conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, has sued lawyer Sidney Powell, who pushed President Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn election results, for defamation.
“Powell falsely claimed that Dominion had rigged the election, that Dominion was created in Venezuela to rig elections for Hugo Chávez, and that Dominion bribed Georgia officials for a no-bid contract,” the lawsuit states.
Powell didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Dominion is requesting damages of more than $1.3 billion, saying it has spent millions on security for its employees and on damage control to its reputation, and risks losing future business.
A Dominion employee who was harassed by Trump supporters previously sued Powell and others. In December, Dominion sent cease-and-desist letters to some conservative media outlets that pushed the election theories, including Fox News and OAN, which led to them walking back their claims.
Claims of voter fraud have been widely rejected.
Election experts have uniformly declared that the 2020 election was conducted fairly. A union of every senior federal and state official who oversaw the election declared it “the most secure in American history." Election security experts, many of whom popularized the notion of hacking voting machines to increase awareness of the vulnerabilities in election systems, found that “in every case of which we are aware, these claims either have been unsubstantiated or are technically incoherent.”
That has not stopped Trump and his supporters from making a variety of evidence-free claims that the election was stolen. Some of the most widespread claims targeted Dominion, which supplied voting systems to 28 states.
It seems Amazon employees will vote if they want a Union
Amazon is fighting very hard to rule out mail in votes
Why does Amazon not want mail in votes
Is Amazon suddenly on the same page as Trump warning about mail in votes
Strange that Amazon suddenly agrees with Trump
I suppose they can agree with Trump if they want to agree re: mail in votes
seems like tis could be a very foolish move by dominion. If this gets to court they opened the way for their business model, and all its problems to be opened....hope this gets real interresting
"If this gets to court they opened the way for their business model, and all its problems to be opened....hope this gets real interresting"
You don't think they know that mcfarm?
Maybe.......................most of those problems that you have been totally misled to believe.................don't exist.
Maybe..............that's why they are suing these frauds who misled people like you to believe that.
NOT maybe...................that's why you just made that statement.
NOT maybe...............that's why our court system exists...........because it's against the law to do what Trump and others did.
Tim is a strong supporter of the Constitution. Well, here it is in action and its seems like the far right wing types are the ones battling it, not telling us how great it is.
https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/997/libel-and-slander
Defamation is a tort that encompasses false statements of fact that harm another’s reputation.
There are two basic categories of defamation: (1) libel and (2) slander. Libel generally refers to written defamation, while slander refers to oral defamation, though much spoken speech that has a written transcript also falls under the rubric of libel.
The First Amendment rights of free speech and free press often clash with the interests served by defamation law. The press exists in large part to report on issues of public concern. However, individuals possess a right not to be subjected to falsehoods that impugn their character.
Defamatory comments might include false comments that a person committed a particular crime or engaged in certain sexual activities.
The hallmark of a defamation claim is reputational harm. Former United States Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart once wrote that the essence of a defamation claim is the right to protect one’s good name. He explained in Rosenblatt v. Baer (1966) that the tort of defamation “reflects no more than our basic concept of the essential dignity and worth of every human being — a concept at the root of any decent system of ordered liberty.”
metmike: As somebody very familiar with the FACTS in this case and the many, many false and baseless allegations intentionally intended to hurt Dominion, I say, with high confidence that Dominion WINS BIG, for the following 3 reasons.
1. This was VERY intentional. They specifically targeted Dominion.
2. What they put out there was baseless and fraudulent. The used false information and pushed false narratives. Not just once or twice or even a dozen times...............relentlessly over a 2 month period and with well documented evidence to prove it.
3. They obliterated Dominions reputation and I mean obliterated it to the point that maximum damages will be awarded with high confidence.
How right wing sources would twist this into it possibly being trouble and backfiring on Dominion shows that they are in La La Land.
I'm nearly cetrtain all ballots were counted accurately, or at least accurately enough to not have an impact on the outcome, so Dominion is pretty safe in their pursuit of a law suit.
I am not certain all the ballots were legitimate. I am reasonably sure there was a large portion that were not. What I don't understand, or perhaps don't want to understand, is the reluctance of assorted voter boards to examine/correct the data. Rand Paul has made it a personal mission. You'd find his comments on the subject interesting.
Tim,
I agree with that.
Where Trump blundered, is that he realized that the small fish voter fraud that you mentioned and is legit would no way tally up close to the votes that he needed to overturn state election results(he was not after the truth but instead wanted to change the results of the election to make him the winner) so he made up some big fish voter fraud using a corrupt/broken Dominion scheme.....that DID NOT EXIST.
Dominion can prove they did this many, many times and what the objective was............to obliterate Dominion's credibility/repution.
It would be one thing if they were trying to accomplish something nefarious and Dominion just happened to get hurt........which still would position Dominion for damages but their objective, specifically targeted Dominion and is well documented/will be easy to prove conclusively.
Man, this is a no brainer.
This case is probably THE quinessential example of a massive demonstration of why libel and slander laws to protect entities in the US exist for.
It will be interesting to see how Dominion treats President Trump on this.
Theres a big different between suing 2 attorneys and suing the president. They could be waiting to see how the impeachment process plays out as a trial in the Senate might give them additional evidence.
Whether he is convicted or not in the Senate may also play a role in the amount of money/damages they ask for.
Since he was the kingpin that hired Giuliani and was almost entirely responsible for the position and the main mouth piece of deception that slandered Dominion, at least hundreds of times, they may be waiting to save the best for last.......with damages the greatest from Trump.
I would be surprised if Trump is not sued for at least the amount of the others.
and then what? many members of congress want to visit the internals of this election to ensure accuracy in the future. you guys are acting like dominion played no part and if we even peaked at what they did or did not do then we are all open to liability. This selection was a big enough mess that all of it should be looked at honestly and thoroughly before we give anyone a free pass before the look see.