Trump lawyer Giuliani faces $1.3 billion lawsuit over 'big lie' election fraud claims

By Jan Wolfe and Susan Heavey

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani gestures as he speaks as Trump supporters gather by the White House ahead of his speech to contest the certification by the U.S. Congress of the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election in Washington, U.S, January 6, 2021. REUTERS/Jim Bourg/File Photo

 

(Reuters) - A U.S. voting machine company filed a $1.3 billion lawsuit against former President Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani, accusing him of defamation in what it called his "big lie" campaign about widespread fraud in the presidential election, court documents on Monday showed.

 

The Denver-based company, Dominion Voting Systems Inc, filed an earlier lawsuit against pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, whom the company also accused of spreading false conspiracy theories about the election that Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

 

A senior Dominion employee, Eric Coomer, also filed a defamation lawsuit against the Trump campaign, saying he had been driven into hiding because of death threats from Trump supporters.

 

Giuliani said in a statement that Dominion's lawsuit was intended to intimidate others from exercising their free speech rights.

 

A U.S. voting machine company filed a $1.3 billion lawsuit against former President Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani, accusing him of defamation in what it called his "big lie" campaign about widespread fraud in the presidential election, court documents on Monday showed. Lisa Bernhard produced this report.

 

"Dominion’s defamation lawsuit for $1.3B will allow me to investigate their history, finances, and practices fully and completely," Giuliani said, adding that he may file a countersuit against the company for violating his rights.

 

Trump and his allies spent two months denying his election defeat, and claiming without evidence that it was the result of widespread voter fraud, before his supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.

 

Dominion is seeking $1.3 billion in damages from the former New York City mayor, alleging in the lawsuit that "he and his allies manufactured and disseminated the 'Big Lie,' which foreseeably went viral and deceived millions of people into believing that Dominion had stolen their votes and fixed the election."

 

Dominion said it filed the lawsuit "to set the record straight" and to "stand up for itself, its employees, and the electoral process."

 

A group of prominent attorneys last week asked New York’s judiciary to suspend Giuliani's law license because he made false claims in post-election lawsuits and for urging Trump’s supporters to engage in “trial by combat” shortly before they stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

 

Dominion states in its lawsuit that it has spent $565,000 on private security to protect its employees, who are facing harassment and death threats.

 

“Giuliani’s statements,” the lawsuit stated, “were calculated to — and did in fact — provoke outrage and cause Dominion enormous harm.”

 

Founded in 2002, Dominion is a major U.S. manufacturer of voting machines, and various Dominion machines were used in more than two dozen states during the 2020 election.

 

(Reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington, Jan Wolfe in Boston and Karen Friefeld in New York; Editing by Lisa Lambert, Chizu Nomiyama and David Gregorio)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-01-26

 

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13 minutes ago, webfact said:

A U.S. voting machine company filed a $1.3 billion lawsuit against former President Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani

Just showing the stupidity of the US civil legal system - $1.3 billion ? I mean what's the point of suing someone (rightly or wrongly) for $1.255 billion more than a guy is worth (according to wiki) ? 

20 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

Just showing the stupidity of the US civil legal system - $1.3 billion ? I mean what's the point of suing someone (rightly or wrongly) for $1.255 billion more than a guy is worth (according to wiki) ? 

Presumably, if he's practicing as an attorney, he has professional liability insurance ?

   

1 hour ago, RichardColeman said:

Just showing the stupidity of the US civil legal system - $1.3 billion ? I mean what's the point of suing someone (rightly or wrongly) for $1.255 billion more than a guy is worth (according to wiki) ? 

Perhaps it will be covered by his professional liabilty insurance, then every lawyer in USA will face huge increases in premiums. They can thank DJT as well as RG for that. 

Symbolic as well, make a point, we after him, we can sue anyone.

Serves the fool right for being such as a>>>licker to the former incumbent.

 

Suing for a specific amount doesn't mean they get it, but apparently, they can reasonably show that they have suffered $3 billion in damages because of what Giuiliani is alleged to have done.  

This company has, no doubt, been drug through the mud.

 

There must be consequences for pushing knowingly false information in support of trying to overthrow our government shut your yap Rudy would be my advice 

An off-topic post has been removed.   This is not exactly a political topic, it's a lawsuit between an attorney and a private company.  

 

This will make old Rudi sweat, the dye will be running again!

 

34 minutes ago, Tug said:

shut your yap Rudy would be my advice 

No, no! Let him keep digging!

2 hours ago, tebee said:

Presumably, if he's practicing as an attorney, he has professional liability insurance ?

   

Won't protect you against fraudulent or illegal activities in the course of your practice. He needs to read the fine print. Just as Homeowners insurance won't pay if you set fire intentionally to your own house (which is basically what he's done).

I wonder if Giuliani from time to time thinks back about the time when he was respected by everybody.

Maybe he should have listened to Dirty Harry: A man's got to know his limitations

 

 

4 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I wonder if Giuliani from time to time thinks back about the time when he was respected by everybody.

 

Meh. He wasn't respected back then either.

 

He got a pass for a few weeks.

 

I mean he was married to his cousin for 14 years, and then got an anulment.

 

 

Words have consequences.

 

Poverty in old age is the consequence Giuliani is facing. 

 

 

3 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Just showing the stupidity of the US civil legal system - $1.3 billion ? I mean what's the point of suing someone (rightly or wrongly) for $1.255 billion more than a guy is worth (according to wiki) ? 

What about the employee at this firm who's now getting death threats from Trump's nutter supporters?  His families life has been turned upside down.

 

Love it.  Gotta send a message that telling lies like this have consequences.

Telling lies has consequences and you will pay the price. He allegedly continued to tell lies to the population and Dominion had to provide security to its employees allegedly due to threats due to these lies.

  Good.  The more exposure the big lie gets as a total fraud the better.  

The billion dollar lawsuit against Giuliani is its second billion dollar lawsuit over false election vlaims. The first being filed against Sidney Powell on Jan. 8th. In both cases I recall Dominion gave both defendants opportunity to publicly disavow their false claims before filing the lawsuits. Neither did so.

 

As to discovery by Giuliani, Dominion lawyer Thomas Clare said "we're here to grant his wish and remind him that discovery is a two-way street." (ref. Colorado politics.com).

 

Expect Dominion will be requesting emails, phone calls, notes & letters, and all other forms of communication, likely with focus on Giuliani's interaction with FORMER POTUS Trump and state/federal officials, and protest organizers.

 

Might Dominion also add a defamation lawsuit against Trump? 

The billion dollar lawsuit against Giuliani is its second billion dollar lawsuit over false election vlaims. The first being filed against Sidney Powell on Jan. 8th. In both cases I recall Dominion gave both defendants opportunity to publicly disavow their false claims before filing the lawsuits. Neither did so.

 

As to discovery by Giuliani, Dominion lawyer Thomas Clare said "we're here to grant his wish and remind him that discovery is a two-way street." (ref. Colorado politics.com).

 

Expect Dominion will be requesting emails, phone calls, notes & letters, and all other forms of communication, likely with focus on Giuliani's interaction with FORMER POTUS Trump and state/federal officials, and protest organizers.

 

Might Dominion also add a defamation lawsuit against Trump? 

12 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

The billion dollar lawsuit against Giuliani is its second billion dollar lawsuit over false election vlaims. The first being filed against Sidney Powell on Jan. 8th. In both cases I recall Dominion gave both defendants opportunity to publicly disavow their false claims before filing the lawsuits. Neither did so.

 

As to discovery by Giuliani, Dominion lawyer Thomas Clare said "we're here to grant his wish and remind him that discovery is a two-way street." (ref. Colorado politics.com).

 

Expect Dominion will be requesting emails, phone calls, notes & letters, and all other forms of communication, likely with focus on Giuliani's interaction with FORMER POTUS Trump and state/federal officials, and protest organizers.

 

Might Dominion also add a defamation lawsuit against Trump? 

According to this excerpt, they just might and they might prevail in court:

 

"In December, Dominion sent a document-retention letter to Pat Cipollone, the White House counsel, asking that he retain all records about conversations related to Dominion.

The Trump campaign didn't respond to a request for comment from Insider.

Koppelman, the Northwestern professor, said he thought lawsuits against Trump and other people who spread conspiracy theories about Dominion and Smartmatic would most likely be successful."

https://www.businessinsider.com/dominion-trump-fox-news-newsmax-oan-sidney-powell-defamation-lawsuits-2021-1

6 hours ago, webfact said:

The Denver-based company, Dominion Voting Systems Inc, filed

Don’t worry my peeps. Rudy’s got this covered. He’s right on top of the situation. He’s counter suing Dominatrices Inc. at Dominatrix Activity Center Food Court.

37 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

The billion dollar lawsuit against Giuliani is its second billion dollar lawsuit over false election vlaims. The first being filed against Sidney Powell on Jan. 8th. In both cases I recall Dominion gave both defendants opportunity to publicly disavow their false claims before filing the lawsuits. Neither did so.

 

As to discovery by Giuliani, Dominion lawyer Thomas Clare said "we're here to grant his wish and remind him that discovery is a two-way street." (ref. Colorado politics.com).

 

Expect Dominion will be requesting emails, phone calls, notes & letters, and all other forms of communication, likely with focus on Giuliani's interaction with FORMER POTUS Trump and state/federal officials, and protest organizers.

 

Might Dominion also add a defamation lawsuit against Trump? 

I think Trump wasn't specific and consistent enough in his communications regarding Dominion to get sued over this. But I do think the communications will become public, and that won't be good for Trump or Giuliani. But I do think they were convinced there was fraud, so there will probably be no things like 'let's make up claims'.

The CEO of Dominion was on TV today. He said they are looking at additional lawsuits against both individuals and companies who employ those individuals who have parroted these silly conspiracy lies.  Think the 'opinionaters' on Fox, plus newsmax and oan.

 

Speech might be free, but there are consequences for slander and libel, which is why those laws exist. In this case, Dominion is acting on behalf of itself, but in essence is also acting on behalf of the entire electorate, as the lies spouted by RG and the like can cast doubt on the integrity of the benchmark of the US system: voting.

 

Incidentally, Dominion, like any firm that provides voting assistance machinery, is required to submit all of its code to State election boards, and they hire folks to go over it and certify that there is nothing untoward in the code. To do what RG and others lie about, it would require the cooperation of dozens of officials and bureaucrats in Red States as well as Blue.

Rudy and others knew they were lying, that accusations were false. If they had been true (or believed to be true) these "facts" would have been included in many of the lawsuits filed. They weren't because you can get in big trouble knowingly fabricating evidence in court

Maybe Giuliani will come with the argument that he worked from Trump when he spread those lies.

He supposedly received 20k USD per day from Trump for his work.

I am sure lying was part of the deal.

Next thing: Rudi in front of a judge: Trump did it. I have proof. I recorded all our conversations ???? 

Here's another comment from Giuliani in reaction to the lawsuit:

"The amount being asked for is, quite obviously, intended to frighten people of faint heart. It is another act of intimidation by the hate-filled left wing to wipe out and censor the exercise of free speech, as well as the ability of lawyers to defend their clients vigorously," he said. "As such, we will investigate a countersuit against them for violating these constitutional rights."

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/dominion-voting-systems-sues-rudy-giuliani-over-false-election-claims-n1255511

Sure. It's not a business suing Giuliani, it's the hate-filled left.

I hope this is just the beginning of his future.  More lawsuits and costly court time

for this Jerk.  Bankruptcy  will look good for him, especially if it is his own money

he is losing.

Geezer

8 hours ago, webfact said:

Trump lawyer Giuliani faces $1.3 billion lawsuit over 'big lie' election fraud claims

By Jan Wolfe and Susan Heavey

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani gestures as he speaks as Trump supporters gather by the White House ahead of his speech to contest the certification by the U.S. Congress of the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election in Washington, U.S, January 6, 2021. REUTERS/Jim Bourg/File Photo

 

(Reuters) - A U.S. voting machine company filed a $1.3 billion lawsuit against former President Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani, accusing him of defamation in what it called his "big lie" campaign about widespread fraud in the presidential election, court documents on Monday showed.

 

The Denver-based company, Dominion Voting Systems Inc, filed an earlier lawsuit against pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, whom the company also accused of spreading false conspiracy theories about the election that Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

 

A senior Dominion employee, Eric Coomer, also filed a defamation lawsuit against the Trump campaign, saying he had been driven into hiding because of death threats from Trump supporters.

 

Giuliani said in a statement that Dominion's lawsuit was intended to intimidate others from exercising their free speech rights.

 

A U.S. voting machine company filed a $1.3 billion lawsuit against former President Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani, accusing him of defamation in what it called his "big lie" campaign about widespread fraud in the presidential election, court documents on Monday showed. Lisa Bernhard produced this report.

 

"Dominion’s defamation lawsuit for $1.3B will allow me to investigate their history, finances, and practices fully and completely," Giuliani said, adding that he may file a countersuit against the company for violating his rights.

 

Trump and his allies spent two months denying his election defeat, and claiming without evidence that it was the result of widespread voter fraud, before his supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.

 

Dominion is seeking $1.3 billion in damages from the former New York City mayor, alleging in the lawsuit that "he and his allies manufactured and disseminated the 'Big Lie,' which foreseeably went viral and deceived millions of people into believing that Dominion had stolen their votes and fixed the election."

 

Dominion said it filed the lawsuit "to set the record straight" and to "stand up for itself, its employees, and the electoral process."

 

A group of prominent attorneys last week asked New York’s judiciary to suspend Giuliani's law license because he made false claims in post-election lawsuits and for urging Trump’s supporters to engage in “trial by combat” shortly before they stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

 

Dominion states in its lawsuit that it has spent $565,000 on private security to protect its employees, who are facing harassment and death threats.

 

“Giuliani’s statements,” the lawsuit stated, “were calculated to — and did in fact — provoke outrage and cause Dominion enormous harm.”

 

Founded in 2002, Dominion is a major U.S. manufacturer of voting machines, and various Dominion machines were used in more than two dozen states during the 2020 election.

 

(Reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington, Jan Wolfe in Boston and Karen Friefeld in New York; Editing by Lisa Lambert, Chizu Nomiyama and David Gregorio)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-01-26

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

$1.3 Billion buys alot of Grecian Formula....

2 hours ago, stevenl said:

I think Trump wasn't specific and consistent enough in his communications regarding Dominion to get sued over this. But I do think the communications will become public, and that won't be good for Trump or Giuliani. But I do think they were convinced there was fraud, so there will probably be no things like 'let's make up claims'.

 

Don't forget that the machines were brought up in that infamous phone call to the Georgia Sec. of State, and that Mark Meadows, WH Chief of Staff went down there to inspect the machines before the run-offs. The COS runs errands?  I didn't listen to the whole call, so the worst I heard was from DT's mouth was questions of tampering.  The stuff about Chavez etc was Powell, then Rudy joined in, then the right-win media formed a chorus.

Dominion cannot have a cloud over it if it intends to stay in a business that involves such a level of purity, it has to be beyond question, and that is why they have no choice other than take such actions.  Be sure there are hordes of worker bees studying everything about them, down to what they spend on toilet paper at the home office, looking for a nail to hang them on even as you read this.

 

 

8 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Just showing the stupidity of the US civil legal system - $1.3 billion ? I mean what's the point of suing someone (rightly or wrongly) for $1.255 billion more than a guy is worth (according to wiki) ? 

But the company has already spent quote from OP

 

"Dominion states in its lawsuit that it has spent $565,000 on private security to protect its employees, who are facing harassment and death threats."

 

If he, Trump et al had not brought those frivolous law suits in the beginning, then Dominion would not needed to spend  $565,000 on private security, and Giuliani would not have been sued.

 

 

Meanwhile in a parallel universe

 

In a statement to CNN Business, Amazon spokesperson Heather Knox said the company believes "the best approach to a valid, fair and successful election is one that is conducted manually, in-person, making it easy for associates to verify and cast their vote in close proximity to their workplace."

 

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/22/tech/amazon-nlrb-union-election/index.html