Dominion Sues Rudy Giuliani For $1.3 Billion Over Election Conspiracy
Topline
Dominion Voting Systems sued Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani for defamation Monday, accusing the former New York City mayor of having “manufactured and disseminated” a false conspiracy theory involving the company’s voting machines, the second in a series of high-dollar lawsuits Dominion has filed against Trump allies who pushed false accusations of election fraud.
Rudy Giuliani conducts a news conference on lawsuits regarding the outcome of the 2020 presidential … [+]
CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Key Facts
Dominion sued Giuliani after sending the attorney two letters warning legal action was “imminent,” with the second letter on Jan. 10 warning, “There is nothing you can say or do at this point to undo the hundreds of millions of dollars in damage that you and your allies have caused Dominion.”
The company’s voting machines are at the heart of a far-right election conspiracy theory that alleges they were used to fraudulently sway the election against former President Donald Trump—dubbed by Dominion in the lawsuit as “the Big Lie”—which there is no evidence to support.
Dominion points to more than 50 statements Giuliani made about the company that were allegedly defamatory—including comments on his podcast, on social media, in appearances on Fox Business and during the Jan. 6 rally that preceded the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol building—which they argue caused Dominion “unprecedented reputational and financial harm, and its employees’ lives have been put in danger.”
Giuliani “enriche[d] himself by falsely claiming that Dominion fixed the election,” the lawsuit alleges, and the company contends Giuliani allegedly did so knowing the claims were false, because he did not make allegations about the voting machines in the Trump campaign’s actual post-election lawsuits.
Giuliani’s lawsuit comes after Dominion already sued former Trump attorney Sidney Powell for defamation, and the company has sent letters to more than 150 individuals and companies warning of potential litigation.
Giuliani has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Big Number
$1.3 billion. That’s how much Dominion is asking for in damages in its suit against Giuliani—the same amount named in its first lawsuit against Powell.
Crucial Quote
“As a lawyer, Rudy Giuliani is well aware that he can be sanctioned for making false claims in court. That’s why he never mentioned Dominion in court and admitted in court that his case wasn’t a fraud case,” Dominion attorney Thomas Clare said in a statement. “Instead, he peddled his lies about Dominion in the court of public opinion, in concert with reckless media outlets that knowingly gave him a global platform to spew baseless falsehoods and to undermine confidence in our democracy.”
What To Watch For
Dominion has suggested it will file additional lawsuits against others who have perpetuated false allegations against the company, including media organizations, and has not ruled out suing Trump himself. In its lawsuit against Giuliani, the company singles out major figures including MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, conservative attorney L. Lin Wood, Fox News, Newsmax and One America News as others who were “determined to promote a false preconceived narrative about the 2020 election.”
Key Background
The Dominion defamation lawsuits are one of a number of consequences Giuliani and other Trump allies are starting to face for their post-election legal efforts and baseless voter fraud claims. Dozens of attorneys filed an ethics complaint against Giuliani with the New York State Bar over his post-election conduct, which seeks to have him investigated and potentially disbarred, and Powell is facing potential sanctions for a failed post-election lawsuit in Michigan that made allegations about Dominion, among other ramifications.
Further Reading
Dominion Voting Sues Sidney Powell For Defamation Over Election Conspiracy—And Others May Be Next (Forbes)
Dominion Warns White House, Giuliani Of ‘Imminent’ Legal Action Over Voter Fraud Claims (Forbes)
Ethics Complaint Against Rudy Giuliani Seeks To Disbar Him In New York (Forbes)
*** This article has been archived for your research. The original version from Forbes can be found here ***
