Giuliani sued by Dominion Voting Systems for $1.3 billion

The lawsuit also alleges Giuliani’s statements about Dominion and the election being stolen helped lead to the breach on Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol.

By Associated Press

Dominion Voting Systems filed a defamation lawsuit on Monday against Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who led the former president’s efforts to question the validity of the 2020 election.

The lawsuit seeks more than $1.3 billion in damages for the voting machine company, a target for conservatives who said it was part of a massive election fraud scheme, blaming it for Trump’s loss and alleging that its systems were easily manipulated.

Dominion’s lawsuit, filed in federal court in the District of Columbia, is among the first major signs of fallout for the former president’s allies and the ultimately unsuccessful effort to question the results of the 2020 election.

“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.”

The suit is based on statements Giuliani made on Twitter, in conservative media and during legislative hearings where the former mayor of New York claimed the voting machine company conspired to flip votes to President Joe Biden.

Dominion provided machines for the state of Georgia, the critical battleground that Biden won and which gave Democrats control of the U.S. Senate.

“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.

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.

Dominion has also sued Powell, who claimed that the company was created in Venezuela to rig elections for the late leader Hugo Chavez and that it has the ability to switch votes.

The lawsuit also alleges Giuliani’s statements about Dominion and the election being stolen helped lead to the breach on Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol.

“Having been deceived by Giuliani and his allies into thinking that they were not criminals — but patriots ‘Defend(ing) the Republic’ from Dominion and its co-conspirators — they then bragged about their involvement in the crime on social media,” the lawsuit states.

2020 U.S. electionsGiulianiLawsuitRudy Giuliani