Dominion Voting Systems, one of the largest manufacturers of electoral equipment in the United States and the subject of numerous incoherent conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, said attorney Sidney Powell, who pres. Donald Trump’s efforts to reverse the election results forced slander.
“Powell falsely claimed that Dominion had hampered the election, that Dominion had been created in Venezuela to direct elections for Hugo Chávez, and that Dominion was bribing officials in Georgia for a contract without a bid,” the lawsuit reads.
Powell did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Dominion is claiming more than $ 1.3 billion in damages, saying it has spent millions on security for its employees and on damaging its reputation, and is at risk of losing future business.
A Dominion employee harassed by Trump supporters has sued Powell and others previously. In December, Dominion sent resignation letters to some conservative media urging election theories, including Fox News and OAN, which led them to return their claims.
Claims of voter fraud have been widely rejected.
Election experts have unanimously stated that the election in 2020 was fair. A union of every senior federal and government official who oversaw the election declared it “the safest in American history.” Election security experts, many of whom have used the idea of hacking voting machines to increase vulnerability in electoral systems, have found “In every case we know of, these allegations are unfounded or technically incoherent.”
That did not stop Trump and his supporters from making a variety of evidence-free allegations that the election was stolen. Some of the most common claims were directed at Dominion, which provided voting systems to 28 states.
Powell, who appeared alongside Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani in their efforts to challenge the outcome of the election, has consistently pushed a string of wild conspiracy theories embraced by QAnon supporters, many of which have also promoted Trump.
Powell promised big and did not deliver, insisting that she release the cracks, citing a revelation about the election conspiracy that would lead to Trump winning the election after losing. Despite a number of confusing lawsuits that never came.
Matt Masterson, a senior election security adviser at the U.S. Agency for Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security until he left office in December, praised the Dominion case as a way to retaliate against deliberate falsities about the integrity of the election.
“There is no truth in any of the allegations about Dominion, and we know this because Georgia went back and counted all the votes, and it was consistent,” Masterson said in a call.
“The concern here is that the court system was used as a vehicle for disinformation,” Masterson said. “That’s why I’m glad to see Dominion react back, because that’s the way they are.”
This is an evolving story. Please come and check for updates.