Jan. 25 (UPI) — Election hardware and software maker Dominion Voting Systems sued Rudolph Giuliani, former President Donald Trump’s lead campaign attorney, in federal court on Monday over claims of fraud he made about the company after the 2020 presidential election.
Dominion, which was the subject of numerous false claims of voter fraud by Trump and his campaign, filed the 107-page complaint in the District of Columbia District Court.
“Although [Giuliani] was unwilling to make false election fraud claims about Dominion and its voting machines in a court of law because he knew those allegations are false, he and his allies manufactured and disseminated the ‘Big Lie,’ which foreseeably went viral and deceived millions of people into believing that Dominion had stolen their votes and fixed the election,” the filing states.
Dominion, which has headquarters in Denver and Toronto, is seeking $1.3 billion in damages from Giuliani.
In its complaint, Dominion says the former New York City mayor personally profited from falsehoods he spread about the company by charging the Trump campaign $20,000 per day for legal services. It also says he profited from selling advertising on his podcast and YouTube channel exploiting election falsehoods to market gold coins, supplements, cigars and protection from “cyberthieves.”
For weeks, Giuliani and onetime Trump campaign attorney Sidney Powell accused Dominion of helping Democrats cheat by deleting votes for Trump or flipping them to Biden. None of the claims were proven and dozens of courts nationwide summarily dismissed claims of voter fraud by the Trump campaign.
The suit also notes that Dominion’s founder and some employees have been harassed and received death threats and cited “unprecedented and irreparable harm.”
“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 states.
Dominion also filed a $1.3 billion libel suit against Powell earlier this month for making similar remarks. It was Powell who claimed that the company was created in Venezuela to rig elections for former dictator Hugo Chavez, who died in 2013.
In December, Dominion employee Eric Coomer filed a separate defamation suit against Giuliani and the Trump campaign, saying the unfounded claims of fraud forced him into hiding due to death threats.
Giuliani, a former federal prosecutor and New York City mayor between 1994 and 2001, is presently under investigation by the New York State Bar Association after he made false and inflammatory statements earlier this month at the “Save America” rally near the White House on Jan. 6, which was followed by a mob attack at the U.S. Capitol aimed at stopping Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
During the rally, Giuliani told the crowd of Trump supporters, “Let’s have trial by combat.”
The NYSBA could revoke Giuliani’s membership and complaints filed with the Attorney Grievance Committee could result in him losing his license to practice law in New York.
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