Giuliani Can’t Dodge Vote Fraud Defamation Suit, Judge Rules

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Aug 12 2021, 3:45 AMAug 12 2021, 5:18 AMAugust 12 2021, 3:45 AMAugust 12 2021, 5:18 AM

(Bloomberg) -- Rudy Giuliani must face a $1.3 billion defamation suit by a voting technology company the former New York mayor and personal lawyer to Donald Trump falsely accused of rigging the 2020 election, a federal judge ruled.

Giuliani’s motion to dismiss the suit was denied Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols in Washington, dealing a blow to a conspiracy theory still being pushed by high-profile supporters of the former president.

Dominion Voting Systems Inc.’s complaint properly explained how Giuliani’s comments hurt the company’s bottom line, including by threatening $200 million in contracts over the next five years, the judge said.

“The complaint therefore alleges lost profits with adequate specificity and survives Giuliani’s motion to dismiss,” he said.

Dominion sued Giuliani and others in April. The company, whose machines are used in dozens of states, argues a trial will prove Giuliani had no valid reason to claim it was part of a vast plot to flip millions of votes away from Trump with help from foreign hackers, corrupt Democrats and “communist money.”

The ruling comes as Republicans in dozens of states are pitching hundreds of restrictive voting laws, motivated at least in part by widely debunked claims that the November contest was plagued by voter fraud.

Former Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell, one of the architects of the conspiracy theory, and MyPillow Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mike Lindell, who used his popular company to boost the election falsehoods, have also moved to dismiss defamation suits filed against them by Dominion. Their requests were also denied on Wednesday.

Nichols in June oversaw a joint hearing on the motions to dismiss filed by Giuliani, Powell and Lindell in Washington. The judge, a Trump appointee, often appeared skeptical of arguments by the defendants at the in-person hearing, repeatedly reminding them that all Dominion had to do to avoid dismissal is to properly allege defamation using detailed claims and evidence.