Friday 29 January 2021

Dominion’s defamation suits

[...]
Dominion Voting Systems has adamantly denied that their voting machines were involved in any kind of election fraud, going so far as to include a page on their website entitled “setting the record straight.” Those denials have been supported by election officials from every state, many of whom are Republicans, contending that the 2020 election was one of the most secure ever.
In December, Dominion wrote to Powell to demand she retract her claims about their company. By that point, she was no longer officially with Trump’s team, but Trump’s campaign staffers were advised to preserve all documents related to the claims about Dominion. Litigation was expected.
Also in December, Ben Smith, writing for The New York Times, reported that Dominion was likely teaming with Smartmatic, another voting machine company that had been the subject of election fraud conspiracy theories. The two companies were considering defamation lawsuits against the news agencies that had shared the conspiracy theories, including OAN, Newsmax and Fox News.
One Fox News host, Lou Dobbs, used multiple segments throughout November and December to push the conspiracy theories about voting machines. After Smartmatic threatened a lawsuit, though, Dobbs (and other shows on the network) aired a segment with Eddie Perez, an expert on election machines, that debunked many of the claims Dobbs himself had made on previous shows.
Smith spoke with multiple attorneys who were experts in the 1st Amendment. They feel that, despite free speech protections for news agencies, Dominion and Smartmatic would probably be able to provide convincing evidence that the conservative news agencies knowingly reported lies about them.
“Newsmax and OAN,” Smith wrote, “appear likely to face the same fate as so many of President Trump’s sycophants, who have watched him lie with impunity and imitated him — only to find that he’s the only one who can really get away with it.”
Indeed, in early January, it was reported that Dominion had formerly filed a US$1.3 billion defamation lawsuit against Powell. Weeks later, the company followed that up with a separate lawsuit against Giuliani for the same amount.
In the lawsuits, Dominion has pointed out that, despite their public claims about the company, neither Powell nor Giuliani ever made those same claims in their lawsuits for Trump.
The news channels that aired Powell and Giuliani’s claims are now said to be trying to distance themselves from them. OAN and Newsmax, in particular, are vulnerable because they are much smaller companies and cannot afford expensive litigation.
If the defamation lawsuits against Trump’s lawyers are successful, though, other entities, including Trump himself, will likely feel the repercussions.

Trump's Conspiracy Theories
As president, Trump used his singular platform to sow doubts about the election, but he was not alone in spreading conspiracy theories. His team of lawyers, including Rudy Giuliani, regularly used public appearances to spread wild claims about voting machines being hacked and votes being deleted, even as their lawsuits were being dismissed by dozens of courts.
Conspiracy theories about Dominion Voting machines were also shared by Trump-supporting news channels like One American News Network (OAN) and Newsmax, whose chief executive officer, Chris Ruddy, has spent much of his career making unproven accusations against Democrats.
Trump has often promoted conspiracy theories, from the false claim that his predecessor, President Barack Obama, was not born in the United States to the bizarre theory that MSNBC host and former House Representative Joe Scarborough murdered his congressional intern. And, then, of course, there is the QAnon movement that revolves around Trump’s alleged battle with the “Deep State.”
Over the years, Trump has faced few consequences for pushing baseless claims, even as he vowed during his 2016 campaign to “open up” libel laws to make it easier for him to sue news organizations that he felt had disparaged him. Now, though, Trump and his loyalists may have pushed their luck too far.
Dominion Voting Systems is fighting back against the fraudulent claims made against it by filing lawsuits aimed at the biggest propagators of those conspiracy theories. If successful, Dominion could make the intentional spread of misinformation a little riskier for politicians and public figures.

themilsource.

H/T Joseph.

14 comments:

  1. Dominion wins only because exposure of the fraud damages "democracy" and therefore anyone who threatens exposure must be silenced "by any means necessary". There's no way Sidney Powell can present her case, true or false.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This CT has gone the same way as other major CTs, like Trooferism. It's now so multi-faceted, with various aspects even contradicting others, that its credibility has further sunk. It's what zealots do.

    Powell will be able to present her case in court, I guess. That'll be a hoot: the lady is batshit crazy!

    And what exactly did you expect Dominion (an unfortunate choice of name, I feel) to do, now that their business reputation has been dragged through the dirt?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They Pay off SoS's and other pols to buy their machines. Follow the money. Millions in kickbacks (aka "campaign contributions".

      The former chief of staff for Georgia Governor Brian Kemp was one of eight registered lobbyists for Dominion Voting Systems.

      Delete
    2. It's the CT debunkers that really convince me that Sidney's onto something. They make a point of deliberately confounding Dominion and Smartmatic, pretending to be unaware that Smartmatics' history and Venezuelan baggage was included with their purchase of the company.

      Delete
    3. Scrub, scrub, scrub... (again URL title)

      Delete
  3. Adding insult to injury... The US chairman of controversial electronic voting company Smartmatic’s Board has been tapped as a member of the Biden transition team. Vice Admiral Peter Neffenger (USCG retired) is a member of the Homeland Security transition committee and was the head of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) under the Obama Administration. Smartmatic has links to Dominion Voting Systems. Sydney Powell, General Michael Flynn’s lawyer, has claimed there is evidence that shows Dominion was involved with potential election fraud in the 2020 General Election.

    Multiple sources, including Biden’s transition website, list Peter Neffenger as a member of the agency review team under the Department of Homeland Security. Agency review teams are responsible for ensuring a smooth transition between administrations. Neffenger is listed as a volunteer for the Biden agency review team.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Don't want conspiracy theories? Then don't maintain the appearance of a conflict of interest.... like donating to candidates and serving on their election staffs.

      Delete
  4. Scrub, scrub, scrub...

    Pa-lease. Deleted webpages now count as evidence too? You're losing your marbles and are a very, very sore loser.

    Please don't further spam this page: you've made your point.

    ReplyDelete