Dominion Sues Giuliani Over Election   01/26 08:18

   

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- Dominion Voting Systems filed a defamation lawsuit on 
Monday against Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who led the former 
president's efforts to spread baseless claims about the 2020 election.

   The lawsuit seeks more than $1.3 billion in damages for the voting machine 
company, a target for conservatives who made up wild claims about the company, 
blaming it for Trump's loss and alleging without evidence that its systems were 
easily manipulated. Dominion is one of the nation's top voting machine 
companies and provided machines for the state of Georgia, the critical 
battleground that Biden won and which flipped control of the U.S. Senate.

   The company faced such a mountain of threats and criticism that one of its 
top executives went into hiding. The suit is based on statements Giuliani made 
on Twitter, in conservative media and during legislative hearings where the 
former mayor of New York claimed the voting machine company conspired to flip 
votes to President Joe Biden.

   Dominion's lawsuit, filed in federal court in the District of Columbia, is 
among the first major signs of fallout for the former president's allies and 
the failed effort to subvert the 2020 election that ended with a Jan. 6 riot at 
the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump mob that claimed the election had been stolen.

   "For Dominion --- whose business is producing and providing voting systems 
for elections --- there are no accusations that could do more to damage 
Dominion's business or to impugn Dominion's integrity, ethics, honesty, and 
financial integrity," the lawsuit says. "Giuliani's statements were calculated 
to --- and did in fact --- provoke outrage and cause Dominion enormous harm."

   There was no widespread fraud in the election, which a range of election 
officials across the country including Trump's former attorney general, William 
Barr, have confirmed. Republican governors in Arizona and Georgia, key 
battleground states crucial to Biden's victory, also vouched for the integrity 
of the elections in their states. Nearly all the legal challenges from Trump 
and his allies have been dismissed by judges, including two tossed by the 
Supreme Court, which includes three Trump-nominated justices.

   "Dominion brings this action to set the record straight, to vindicate the 
company's rights under civil law, to recover compensatory and punitive damages, 
and to stand up for itself, its employees, and the electoral process," the 
lawsuit read.

   Giuliani did not respond to a reporter's message seeking comment.

   During an episode of Giuliani's podcast, he charged that "Dominion had 
stolen the election 'technologically,'" the lawsuit alleges, and warned 
listeners that cybercriminals could steal the titles to their homes online. The 
lawsuit also details Giuliani pitching supplements to cure their achy joints 
and muscles, offering a special discount code as he held up the bottles.

   The lawsuit also includes a photo of Giuliani holding a cigar, hocking 
cigars with a deal for $20 off orders over $100 after he pushed accusations 
about Dominion and falsely alleged that the election had been fixed by a 
Venezuelan company.

   The lawsuit argues that Giuliani worked in concert with Trump supporters and 
lawyers Sidney Powell, L. Lin Wood and conservative media outlets "determined 
to promote a false preconceived narrative about the 2020 election."

   Dominion has also sued Powell, who claimed that the company was created in 
Venezuela to rig elections for the late leader Hugo Chavez and that it has the 
ability to switch votes.

   The lawsuit also alleges Giuliani's false statements about Dominion and the 
election being "stolen" helped to perpetuate the violent mob that stormed the 
U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 as Congress was meeting to vote to certify Biden as the 
winner of the election.

   "Having been deceived by Giuliani and his allies into thinking that they 
were not criminals --- but patriots 'Defend(ing) the Republic' from Dominion 
and its co-conspirators --- they then bragged about their involvement in the 
crime on social media," the lawsuit states.