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Election infrastructure company Dominion Voting Systems sued Powell for libel after filing lawsuits and appearing in conservative media on behalf of then-President Donald Trump to cast doubt on the 2020 election results. Dominion says Powell knew his accusations of electoral fraud were false and hurtful to the company.
In a new court file, lawyers for Powell write that she shared her “opinion” and that the public could draw “their own conclusions” on whether the votes had been altered by electoral machines.
“Given the highly charged and political context of the statements, it is clear that Powell was describing the facts upon which she based the lawsuits she brought in support of President Trump,” Powell’s defense attorneys wrote on Monday in a court record.
“Indeed, the complainants themselves characterize the statements at issue as“ far-fetched accusations ”and“ extravagant statements. ”They are repeatedly labeled“ inherently improbable ”and even“ impossible. ”Such characterizations of allegedly defamatory statements further support the defendants’ position that reasonable people would not accept such statements as fact but would view them only as claims waiting to be tested by the courts as part of the adversarial process. “
Election officials and the Dominion resoundingly called the loss of Trump in the election accurate and not tainted with possible major security risks. Lawyers for Trump and his allies quickly lost or dropped all but one of nearly 60 minor cases after the election, as the then president sought to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in several key states.
Although the Trump campaign sought to distance itself from Powell after holding a conspiratorial press conference with his other lawyers, Trump had told people he liked Powell’s arguments and wanted to see her more on television.
Besides Powell, the meeting included his client, former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, two people familiar with the matter previously told CNN, describing a session that began as an impromptu rally but eventually broke out in screaming matches at times, as some of Trump’s aides rebuffed Powell and Flynn’s most outrageous suggestions to quash the election.
“Emboldened by Trump’s endorsement of her bogus accusations, which launched her into a political superstar, Powell’s slanderous media campaign continued and escalated” with her media appearances, Dominion alleged in his trial.
Powell also claims in court that his statements about the 2020 election were a “matter of public interest” about a notorious company, Dominion, and therefore protected speech.
Her lawyers also say she had the right to lay charges because she was acting as a lawyer for the Trump campaign, even during her right-wing television appearances. As a result, Powell is asking a Washington, DC judge to either dismiss the case or allow it to go to federal court in Texas.
CNN’s Paul LeBlanc contributed to this report.
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