Sidney Powell, the conservative lawyer who promoted false claims about fraud in the presidential election, says a 10-figure defamation lawsuit filed against her should be tossed out because “no reasonable person” would believe her statements.

Powell’s lawyers made the argument Monday in a motion to dismiss the $1.3 billion federal lawsuit filed in January by Dominion Voting Systems. In making their case, the attorneys are using Dominion’s own words — that Powell made “wild accusations” and “outlandish claims” — against the company.

Among the claims Powell made in post-election news conferences and in media interviews were that Dominion’s voting software was developed in Venezuela at the direction of now-deceased President Hugo Chavez to rig elections there and that they were programmed to flip votes cast for Donald Trump to Joe Biden. She also accused Dominion of paying kickbacks to Georgia election officials for a no-bid contract.

In the court filing, Powell’s lawyers argue that her claims were “her opinions and legal theories.” 

Powell filed multiple lawsuits seeking to overturn election results, but none were successful. 

She made many media appearances in the months after the election and claimed she had mounting evidence of fraud. But her lawyers now assert that her statements relied on sworn declarations from others and that she cannot be held responsible if their information proved to be false, standing behind the sort of First Amendment argument that has protected journalists. 

But while Powell’s attorneys argue no reasonable person would believe the conservative lawyer’s claims, they also write that Dominion cannot prove that Powell made false or misleading comments with malice because “she believed the allegations then and she believes them now.”

Powell’s lawyers also requested Monday that, if the lawsuit is not dismissed, that the case should be transferred to her home state of Texas. 

In a statement provided to Spectrum News, Tom Clare, an attorney for Dominion, said: “Powell’s attempt to dismiss the case contradicts her claim that she wants to present her evidence in court. Dominion Voting Systems is eager for the case to move forward and intends to hold Powell accountable.”

In its lawsuit, Dominion accused Powell, a former federal prosecutor, of pushing falsehoods “to financially enrich herself, to raise her public profile, and to ingratiate herself to Donald Trump for benefits she expected to receive as a result of that association.”

Dominion says that disinformation spread by Powell and others alleging its machines were used to commit election fraud “has irreparably damaged Dominion’s reputation” and destroyed its resale value.

The lawsuit names Powell, her law firm and Defending the Republic, the organization she set up to solicit donations to help fund her election-related litigation, as defendants.

Dominion CEO John Poulos has called Powell “by far … the most egregious and prolific purveyor of the falsities against Dominion.”

The company also has filed $1.3 billion defamation lawsuits against Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell. 

A Quinnipiac University poll in February found that 76% of Republicans believe there was widespread fraud in the election.

Last month, Smartmatic, a rival voting technology company, sued Powell, Giuliani, Fox News and three of its hosts for $2.7 billion, charging that they conspired to spread false claims that it, too, helped “steal” the election. Powell’s response to that suit is due April 8.

Powell had been working in concert with the Trump campaign as it challenged the results of the election. In late November, however, Trump attorneys Giuliani and Jenna Ellis released a statement disavowing Powell, but she continued to file lawsuits independently and was reportedly at an Oval Office meeting with Trump and others on Dec. 20 in which she and former national security adviser Michael Flynn floated suggestions for how to overturn the election.