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Dominion Voting Systems is fighting back after Donald Trump and his allies spread conspiracy theories tarnishing its reputation. Trump’s former personal attorney Rudy Giuliani is being sued for participating in the defamation claims.
According to CNN, Giuliani pushed the “Big Lie” about election fraud on his podcast and several television appearances.
The company is now seeking over $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 against the attorney and Trump’s longtime friend accuses him of spreading falsehoods about the company being owned by Venezuelan communists and corrupting the 2020 Presidential Election. However, Giuliani did not make those same claims in any of the lawsuits he pushed on Trump’s behalf.
Giuliani is the second person sued by Dominion in the past recent weeks. The vote auditing company also sued lawyer Sidney Powell. Powell is accused of the same defamation claims as Giuliani.
Dominion sent Giuliani a cease-and-desist letter, but he still chose to make baseless claims that the company aided in election fraud. As a result, listeners of Giuliani reacted by carrying on the rhetoric in online discussions.
The former mayor of New York repeated his claims—without evidence—that the company participated in the election scandal on his podcast, radio show, and YouTube shows. Furthermore, he again made those same claims on TV appearances for OANN, Fox, and Fox Business networks, the lawsuit says.
Hours before the Capitol insurrection, Giuliani continued to make claims against Dominion in tweets, on a YouTube show, and in his own speech during the rally. At the rally, he told listeners that he knew of an expert who had looked into Dominion voting machines and saw changed votes—but presented no evidence.
“This election was stolen,” he added. The company sent him a second letter on January 10, asking him to retract his statements.
“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.
As a result of the widespread conspiracy theories, the company says millions of American voters distrust it, and its own employees have been harassed.
Furthermore, they are concerned that hundreds of its contracts with states and localities will be in jeopardy. It also projects an estimated loss of profits over the next five years of $200 million, the suit claims.
Donald Trump is not out of the water. He may also face prosecution if the company chooses to do so.
When asked on a call with the media Monday if Dominion plans to sue Trump himself, Tom Clare, Dominions’ attorney, said, “We’re not ruling anybody out.”
“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.
Giuliani responded to the lawsuit late Monday morning.
“Dominion’s defamation lawsuit for $1.3B will allow me to investigate their history, finances, and practices fully and completely,” Mr. Giuliani said. “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. As such, we will investigate a countersuit against them for violating these Constitutional rights.”
