DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. — Local businessman and nationally known conservative activist Joe Oltmann said he might go broke as some of his companies cut ties with him after a judge ordered him to pay a daily fine until he provides evidence of his election rigging claims.
Oltmann, who has described himself as the CEO of the DCF Guns chain along with other business interests, said on Tuesday that the boards of three of his businesses had severed ties with him. Oltmann did not specify which businesses.
“I was taken out of three of my companies yesterday,” Oltmann said on his Conservative Daily podcast. “The boards decided that it was better that I not be associated with those companies.”
“They asked me to step down,” Oltmann said. “So, it’s working. I’m gonna go broke.”
Oltmann accused Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems of working with Antifa to rig the 2020 election against former President Donald Trump. Oltmann has refused to provide evidence of his claim, which was repeated by the Trump campaign.
A judge recently ordered Oltmann to pay a $1,000 per day fine to the former Dominion employee he accused by name or provide evidence to back up his claim.
In another court document filed late Tuesday, that same Dominion employee requested $19,623.24 in attorney's fees and costs incurred as a result of Oltmann's non-compliance.
This week, Oltmann’s podcast began promoting a crowdfunding campaign to fund his mounting legal tab.
The fundraising page, entitled “Defend Joe Oltmann in Fighting Legal Tyranny,” raised $3,000 in three days. It exhorts donors to give with a Bible verse from Deuteronomy: "Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you."
Oltmann was named as a non-party in a defamation suit by Eric Coomer, the former director of product security and strategy for Dominion Voting Systems. He is also facing a defamation and conspiracy lawsuit from Coomer for claims Oltmann made in 2020.
Oltmann had previously said he would not obey the court order and pay Coomer the daily fine.
"I'll be damned if I write a check to that piece of s---," Oltmann said on his podcast last week.
An attorney for Coomer told 9NEWS on Tuesday that Oltmann’s public statement defying the judge’s order “will obviously have to be brought to the attention of the Court in due course.”
It would be up to the federal judge whether to jail Oltmann for contempt if he refuses to pay the daily fine.
In imposing the daily sanction, Senior United States District Judge William J. Martínez wrote that the fine was intended to “get Oltmann's full and complete attention.”
The judge wrote that the amount of the coercive fine should take into account Oltmann’s resources but “the Court sees little record evidence of Oltmann's financial resources, other than an assertion by Coomer that Oltmann has already paid $53,671.14 in sanctions in other courts and that he 'frequently boasts of his wealth and comfortable lifestyle.'”
In November 2020, Oltmann claimed to have heard an "Antifa conference call" where an employee of Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems suggested the election was rigged in favor of Joe Biden.
“I think this is a conspiracy to commit fraud against the American people,” Oltmann told KNUS host Peter Boyles on Nov. 18. “This is a massive, massive, massive putting your finger on the scales of the election.”
Oltmann hasn't provided evidence to back up the accusation, despite being subpoenaed in Denver District Court.
Oltmann has repeatedly refused to submit evidence to the court, specifically communications with the person known only as "RD" who Oltmann claimed gave him access to the "Antifa call," and the identity of the person who gave Oltmann access to Coomer's private Facebook account.
According to court documents, Oltmann left the courthouse during his deposition.
On a recent podcast, Oltmann again attacked the judge handling the case.
"Did you know that judges actually remove their names and information from anywhere?" Oltmann asked. "They have literally hidden their addresses as if they don't exist."
Oltmann closed his Thursday podcast with another of his frequent predictions of coming political violence.
"November is going to be the start of something very, very, very, very, very, very kinetic," Oltmann said. "Now, do I want that to happen? No, I don't, but I don't want my children to be groomed either. I don't want perverts and Satanists to be the one that gets the last word."