Dominion Voting Systems on Tuesday continued to file lawsuits against conservative media outlets and other prominent figures it says spread baseless claims about it rigging the 2020 presidential election against Donald Trump.
What You Need To Know
- Dominion Voting Systems on Tuesday continued its suing spree against conservative media outlets and other prominent figures it says spread baseless claims about it rigging the 2020 presidential election against Donald Trump
- The Denver-based voting machine company filed three separate defamation lawsuits against the cable TV networks Newsmax and One America News and against former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne
- Citing lost profits and other damages, the lawsuits each seek more than $1.6 billion
- Dominion says its reputation has been damaged so badly by the false claims that it has lost at least $70 million in profits as a result of contracts that have been canceled or not awarded since the presidential election
The Denver-based voting machine company filed three separate defamation lawsuits against the cable TV networks Newsmax and One America News and against former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne. Citing lost profits and other damages, the lawsuits each seek more than $1.6 billion.
"The defendants in today's filings recklessly disregarded the truth when they spread lies in November and continue to do so today,” Dominion CEO John Poulos said in a statement. “We are filing these three cases today because the defendants named show no remorse, nor any sign they intend to stop spreading disinformation. This barrage of lies by the Defendants and others have caused—and continue to cause—severe damage to our company, customers, and employees. We have no choice but to seek to hold those responsible to account."
The Newsmax and OAN filings borrow much of the same language. In them, Dominion’s lawyers wrote that the networks “helped create and cultivate an alternate reality where up is down, pigs have wings, and Dominion engaged in a colossal fraud to steal the presidency from Donald Trump by rigging the vote.”
Dominion alleges the networks “manufactured, endorsed, repeated, and broadcast a series of verifiably false yet devastating lies about Dominion.” The claims included that Dominion’s software and algorithms manipulated vote counts to help Joe Biden, that the firm is owned by a company founded in Venezuela to rig elections for the late dictator Hugo Chavez and that Dominion was involved in voting irregularities in cities where its machines are not even used.
In a statement to Spectrum News, Newsmax said it had not yet reviewed Dominion’s complaint but asserted that the network “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,” the statement said.
The OAN lawsuit also names as defendants Herring Networks CEO Robert Herring and President Charles Herring, as well as reporters Chanel Rion and Christina Bobb. Herring Networks is OAN’s parent company.
OAN has not responded to an email from Spectrum News seeking comment.
Byrne is accused of bankrolling false “forensic” reports that claim Dominion’s machines were intentionally designed to create systemic fraud and influence election results. Dominion says he also enlisted and promoted conspiracy theorists and misrepresented their credentials.
Byrne, who has previously said he did not vote for Trump, has not commented publicly on the lawsuit.
Dominion says its reputation has been damaged so badly by the false claims that it has lost at least $70 million in profits as a result of contracts that have been canceled or not awarded since the presidential election, a trend the company predicts will continue to play out over the coming years. Dominion claims some election officials have told its representatives that the company is losing business “because of the ‘Dominion’ name.”
The lawsuit against Newsmax was filed in state court in Delaware, while the other two cases were filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Trump and some of his prominent supporters continue to push false claims that widespread election fraud cost him re-election in November.
All but one of the more than 60 legal challenges filed by Trump and his allies have failed in the courts, including two tossed out by the Supreme Court.
The Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the National Association of State Election Directors described the election as "the most secure in American history.” And before resigning in December, Attorney General William Barr said the Justice Department found no evidence of widespread voter fraud that could have changed the outcome of the election.
Dominion says it’s impossible to program its voting software to switch votes because the machines print a paper ballot, which is reviewed by the voter and can be used to audit election results.
The company has previously filed a number of other $1 billion-plus defamation lawsuits against those who have accused it of working to fix the election, including Fox News, lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.
In a call with reporters Tuesday, Dominion attorney Stephen Shackelford did not rule out suing Trump, Reuters reported.
"We are still exploring options as to how to hold other participants in the campaign of lies accountable," Shackelford said.