Rudy Giuliani is facing a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems, the electronic voting hardware and software company that manufactured the equipment used in the presidential election, the New York Timesreports.
Per CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Giuliani is being accused of peddling "demonstrably false" allegations that resulted in harassment and death threats for employees.”
As Giuliani spearheaded Trump’s campaign aimed at overturning the election results, he continuously made false allegations about Dominion, claiming that it was to blame for Trump's loss. The suit stems from statements Giuliani made on Twitter, to conservative media, and during legislative hearings where he alleged that Dominion flipped votes in favor of Biden.
Dominion provided machines for Georgia’s election, a key state in clinching the election for Biden.
According to the Associated Press, threats made against the company as a result of the misinformation became so severe that one of its top executives went into hiding.
“For Dominion—whose business is producing and providing voting systems for elections—there are no accusations that could do more to damage Dominion’s business or to impugn Dominion’s integrity, ethics, honesty, and financial integrity,” the lawsuit alleges. “Giuliani’s statements were calculated to—and did in fact—provoke outrage and cause Dominion enormous harm.”
Election officials ultimately found no voter fraud, and neither did Trump’s own Justice Department. Almost all of the legal challenges that Giuliani filed on behalf of Trump were also thrown out by judges, including two cases dismissed by the Supreme Court.
“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 added.
Giuliani responded to the lawsuit in a statement:
