Dominion sues Newsmax, One America News over election fraud claims

Aug 10 (Reuters) – Dominion Voting Systems on Tuesday sued two conservative media networks, One America News Network (OANN) and Newsmax Media Inc, saying they defamed the U.S. voting machine company by spreading false claims that it rigged the 2020 election for U.S. President Joe Biden.

Dominion also filed a lawsuit making similar allegations against businessman Patrick Byrne, the former chief executive of online retailer Overstock.com Inc (OSTK.O).

In each of the three lawsuits, Dominion is seeking more than $1.6 billion in damages, citing lost profits and other harms.

In a statement, Newsmax said, “While Newsmax has not reviewed the Dominion filing, in its coverage of the 2020 Presidential elections, Newsmax simply reported on allegations made by well-known public figures, including the President, his advisors and members of Congress — Dominion’s action today is a clear attempt to squelch such reporting and undermine a free press.

“Newsmax may have additional comment on the suit later,” it said.

OANN representatives and Byrne did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Reporting by Jan Wolfe in Boston, Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware, Sabahatjahan Contractor in Bengaluru, and Mark Hosenball in Washington; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Scott Malone and Jonathan Oatis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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