Trump allies including Giuliani lose offer to dismiss Dominion lawsuit

Aug.11 (Reuters) – Three prominent allies of former US President Donald Trump – Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell and Mike Lindell – on Wednesday lost an offer to dismiss multibillion-dollar lawsuits, claiming their bogus claims regarding the 2020 presidential election defamed the Dominion voting equipment company.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols in Washington DC said in a written decision that lawsuits against the trio by Dominion Voting Systems should go ahead. The company had said it was vilified because Trump and his supporters spread false allegations that it rigged the election against him.

Nichols argued that the First Amendment, which protects the right to free speech, offers “no blanket immunity” to Powell and Lindell from prosecution. Powell is a lawyer who later left the Trump campaign. Lindell is a conspiracy theorist who founded a pillow and bedding company.

The judge also rejected an argument by Giuliani, a former U.S. attorney and mayor of New York City, that Dominion failed to explain its claim for damages with sufficient precision.

A Dominion spokesperson said: “We are pleased to see this process move forward to hold (the defendants) accountable.”

Howard Kleinhendler, an attorney for Powell, said they were disappointed with the decision. “However, we are now anxious to plead this case on the merits and to prove that Ms Powell’s statements were correct and certainly not maliciously published.”

Lawyers for Giuliani and Lindell did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Dominion demanded $ 1.3 billion in damages from the three people, who backed Trump’s false claims that President Joe Biden could not have won the election in which the company’s voting machines were knocked out. been used.

Dominion, based in Denver, Colo., Has filed several lawsuits against Trump allies and conservative television networks, and has said he is not ruling out prosecuting Trump.

Dominion filed defamation lawsuits against two conservative media networks, One America News Network and Newsmax Media Inc, on Tuesday for amplifying Trump’s election fraud allegations. In these cases, Dominion is seeking $ 1.6 billion in damages from each network.

Reporting by Jan Wolfe in Boston and David Thomas in Chicago; Editing by Leslie Adler and Grant McCool

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