Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell and Mike Lindell tried to dismiss the massive lawsuit, but it was unsuccessful in court on Wednesday night. This means that the lawsuit brought by the voting machine company Dominion could go as planned.
Dominion believes the trio, through their repeated, unsubstantiated and unsubstantiated allegations of election fraud, have tarnished their reputation, and are now claiming $1.3 billion from the trio. This corresponds to more than 11.5 billion NOK.
Judge Carl Nichols, who was appointed by Donald Trump when he was president, agreed with the company and rejected the request to resign. Powell and Lindell wanted to dismiss the lawsuit on the grounds of freedom of speech, but Judge Nichols denies that this gives the duo “complete immunity,” writing Reuters.
Hugo Chavez and voice manipulation
Powell is an attorney who worked on Trump’s campaign to prove electoral fraud, but resigned after a short time because the president deemed it too extreme. Lendl is a pillow business who, over the past year, has made a name for himself with his own conspiracy theories about elections.
These conspiracy theories include that Dominion’s voting machines were programmed to change Trump votes into Biden votes, and that the company teamed up with former Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez.
Dominion says the statements have caused them “tremendous harm,” and believes the conspiracy theories are “wild accusations that can be clearly refuted.”
The allegations were true
For his part, Giuliani claimed that Dominion had not provided sufficient evidence to claim compensation. This argument was also rejected by Justice Nichols.
“We are pleased that this case is moving forward so that the accused can be held accountable,” a Dominion spokesperson told Reuters.
Powell’s defender, Howard Kleinhendler, says he is disappointed with the decision. The client does not appear to have put conspiracy theories behind it.
“We look to prove that Powell’s claims were true and certainly were not made in bad faith,” says Kleinhendler.
Lawyers for Giuliani and Lendl have not yet commented on the decision.
Plaintiff’s TV channels
Dominion is demanding $1.3 billion from the trio, supporting Trump’s false claims that President Joe Biden did not win the election unfairly, in part due to Dominion’s voting machines.
The company has filed a number of lawsuits against Trump supporters and conservative TV channels, and is not ruling out suing the president himself.
On Tuesday, Dominion sued One America News Network and Newsmax for defamation, as they, according to the company, helped advance Trump conspiracy theories. Dominion is claiming $1.6 billion from each channel.