Dominion files $1.3B defamation lawsuit against Rudy Giuliani over 'demonstrably false' election claims
President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani speaks to supporters from The Ellipse near the White House on January 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON - Dominion Voting Systems filed a defamation lawsuit against Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, seeking more than $1.3 billion in damages for Giuliani’s "repeatedly disproven" allegations that the company rigged the presidential election for Joe Biden.
The 107-page lawsuit, filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, accuses Giuliani of a "viral disinformation campaign against Dominion," based on dozens of statements he made at hearings, in news media, on his podcast and on Twitter.
Government and election officials repeatedly have described the election as the most secure in U.S. history. Even former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr, a Trump ally, said before leaving his post that there was no evidence of widespread fraud that would overturn the result.
Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, is Trump’s personal lawyer and played a prominent role in the president’s failed fight to overturn his election loss to Biden.
President-elect Joe Biden’s 2020 election win certified by Congress
Congress was forced to abruptly halt its session on counting Electoral College votes won by President-elect Joe Biden as supporters of President Donald Trump swarmed the U.S. Capitol. But the counting resumed, and Biden’s win was certified.
The lawsuit states Giuliani’s claims about the company fixing the election by manipulating vote counts "are demonstrably false and have been repeatedly disproven by independent audits and hand recounts of paper ballots."
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.
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.
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.
"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."
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." Earlier this month, the company filed a defamation lawsuit against Powell, also seeking at least $1.3 billion for Powell's "wild accusations" that the company rigged the presidential election.
Eric Coomer, Dominion's security director, already has sued Powell, Giuliani and the president's campaign for defamation after he was driven into hiding by death threats. Conservative columnists and news outlets also were named in Coomer's lawsuit, filed in Colorado, where the company is based.
Giuliani has also faced fallout from those in his field. Lawyers Defending American Democracy, a layers’ group which includes former judges and federal attorneys among its members, filed an ethics complaint against Giuliani with New York's courts. The complaint called for him to be investigated and his law license suspended over his work promoting Trump's false allegations over the 2020 election.
Another complaint against Giuliani was filed earlier in January by New York state Sen. Brad Hoylman, a Democrat, who asked that disbarring Giuliani be taken up for consideration.
The New York State Bar Association separately has opened an inquiry into whether he should be expelled from that organization, which is a voluntary membership organization.
Giuliani’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.
This story was reported from Cincinnati. The Associated Press contributed.