WASHINGTON — Dominion Voting Systems Inc. filed a defamation lawsuit Monday against former President Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani following months of baseless claims that the company's systems in the November 2020 presidential election were rigged.
The lawsuit was filed by the company in the Federal District Court in Washington, D.C.The 107-page lawsuit says "as a result of the defamatory falsehoods peddled by Giuliani... Dominion’s founder and employees have been harassed and received death threats, and Dominion has suffered unprecedented and irreparable harm.”
Dominion is seeking more than $1.3 billion in damages. The suit is based on statements made by Giuliani on Twitter, his podcast and to the media.
“Dominion brings this action to set the record straight, to vindicate the company’s rights under civil law, to recover compensatory and punitive damages, and to stand up for itself, its employees, and the electoral process,” the lawsuit read.
There was no widespread fraud in the election, which a range of election officials across the country including Trump’s former attorney general, William Barr, have confirmed. 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. 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.
Giuliani did not respond to a reporter's message seeking comment.
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.”
The company earlier filed lawsuits against the Trump campaign and former Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell for her "wild accusations” that the company rigged the presidential election for Joe Biden.
Last week, Lawyers Defending American Democracy, a lawyers' group, filed an ethics complaint against Rudy Giuliani with New York's courts, calling for him to be investigated and his law license suspended over his work promoting former President Donald 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.
