Judge clears libel lawsuits against Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani and MyPillow CEO to proceed

by



[ad_1]

Dominion is seeking billions of dollars in damages, claiming to have been wronged by baseless allegations of electoral fraud made by confidants of former President Donald Trump. The company supplies election materials used by more than 40% of American voters. He has repeatedly denied all allegations of electoral fraud.

Judge Carl Nichols, appointed by Trump to the DC District Court, wrote in his opinion on Wednesday that Powell’s statements could not be excused by protections of political speech, nor was she protected as a as a lawyer.

“Powell cannot shirk responsibility for his widely publicized out-of-court statements by presenting them as protected statements about litigation in the courts; out-of-court statements by a lawyer to the public may give rise to action, even if those statements relate to being contemplated. or an ongoing litigation, ”Nichols wrote.

Lawyers for Powell and Lindell said in June that their clients’ election fraud claims constitute protected speech because they say the election continues to be contested.

Giuliani, meanwhile, said the Dominion lawsuit was meant to silence him. When the complaint was filed in January, he claimed it was “another act of intimidation by the hate left to destroy and censor the exercise of freedom of expression, as well as the ability of lawyers to vigorously defend their clients ”.

Wednesday’s decision is a devastating blow to Powell, Lindell and Giuliani as they continue to fight. Nichols not only gave the green light to Dominion’s lawsuits against each of them, but he also made it clear that it may be possible for the company to prove in court that Powell, Lindell and Giuliani did wrong. reckless statements, even after being told they were wrong, a key element in defamation cases.

Nichols also denied Giuliani’s attempt to have the case dismissed.

“Dominion has sufficiently alleged that Powell made a number of actionable statements because a reasonable juror could conclude that they were either statements of fact or statements of opinion involving or based on provable facts, “wrote the judge.

Nichols has cast serious doubts on Lindell’s claims – which the CEO continues to make – that the election was stolen from Trump.

The judge wrote that “in addition to alleging that Lindell’s claims are inherently improbable, that his sources are unreliable, and that he did not recognize the validity of the compensatory evidence, Dominion has alleged numerous cases in which Lindell told the public to buy MyPillow products after making her allegations of voter fraud and providing MyPillow promo codes related to these theories. “

The company “has sufficiently alleged that Lindell made his claims knowing they were false or with a reckless disregard for the truth,” Nichols said.

Dominion also filed lawsuits Tuesday against television stations Newsmax and One America News, alleging they helped spread unsubstantiated conspiracy theories about his role in the 2020 election.

In a statement, Newsmax said it had not yet reviewed the lawsuit against him, but that “in its coverage of the 2020 presidential elections, Newsmax simply reported on allegations made by well-known public figures, including the president, his advisers and members of Congress. “

“Dominion’s action today is a clear attempt to quell such reporting and undermine a free press,” Newsmax added.

Charles Herring, president of OAN, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

CNN’s Devan Cole, Oliver Darcy, and Dan Berman contributed to this report.

[ad_2]

Source link