'Huge damage to reputation': Trump headquarters sued for libel

The executive director of a voting machine company sues Trump allies for libel, writes CNN.

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The head of a voting machine company that became the target of conspiracy theories after Donald Trump's defeat in the 2020 election and was groundlessly accused of rigging the results against the president is suing Trump's headquarters and conservative media for defamation.

Trump has called Dominion's voting system a "disaster," and his supporters have floated conspiracy theories that the company allegedly deleted votes for Trump on its voting equipment and that Dominion chief product and security strategy Eric Coomer allegedly helped subvert the election.

There is no evidence that the 2020 election was “stolen” from Trump. His administration and election officials called it the “most secure” election in US history. President-elect Joe Biden won the popular vote by more than 7 million votes and 306 electoral votes to 232.

Rudy Giuliani, Trump adviser Sidney Powell, conservative media outlets One America News Network and Newsmax Media, right-wing website Gateway Pundit, and Colorado businessman and activist Joseph Altmann are the defendants in the lawsuit.

In recent days, with the threat of prosecution mounting, several conservative media outlets have begun to back down on some of the more outrageous claims.

In a lawsuit filed Dec. 22 in Colorado District Court, Coomer's lawyers said the allegations were "false and unfounded" and caused "enormous damage to Coomer's reputation, professional standing, safety and privacy."

The lawsuit says the defendants "relied heavily on false statements" by Oltmann, who claimed in interviews and social media posts that Coomer was a participant in an Antifa conference Oltmann said he attended in September.

Asked about the alleged Antifa call, Oltmann told CNN he had "evidence" that he did not immediately provide and said "the truth is the great equalizer in all of this."

On the subject: Voting tech developer accuses Fox News of disinformation in favor of Trump

Altmann claimed to have heard one of the speakers on the alleged call, "Eric of Dominion," tell attendees, “Trump is not going to win. I'm fucking convinced of that. " Altmann, who said he paraphrased the conversation, provided neither a recording of the alleged call nor an explanation of how he found out about it and gained access according to the lawsuit.

Coomer's lawyers denied that the Dominion chief knew of the alleged call, participated in it, or made such comments.

The lawsuit also lists many specific threats allegedly directed against Kumer, and says the persecution forced Kumer to leave his home "in fear for his safety." Coomer went into hiding shortly after the election, he recently told Colorado Public Radio.

He demands damages, as well as a public refutation of all statements deemed defamatory.

In a Dec. 22 statement, Coomer said the lawsuit is "an attempt to mitigate the harm caused to me, my family, my life and my finances as a result of numerous false public statements regarding the 'rigging' of the 2020 Presidential election that I allegedly committed." “In this way I bear responsibility.”

Dominion is not a party to the claim.

Company officials, however, told CNN that "Sidney Powell and many others, including some news organizations, have trampled countless reputations by pandering to their ridiculous conspiracy theories."

Voting technology company Smartmatic, faced with similar conspiracy theories, launched a strong legal threat to Newsmax, One America News and Fox News earlier this month, claiming that the agencies had contributed to the spread of false and libelous claims that could be refuted by basic research ... Newsmax posted a "clarification" on Dec. 21 that it had no evidence that Dominion or Smartmatic had manipulated votes in the 2020 elections, and Fox released a video package last week refuting several claims made by its own or guest correspondents.

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On Saturday, December 19, a team of lawyers at Trump's headquarters sent dozens of employees a memo instructing them to keep all documents related to Dominion and Powell, pending potential legal action by the company.

The memo, reviewed by CNN, mentions a letter that Dominion sent Powell last week demanding a public withdrawal of the charges and instructing headquarters staff not to alter, destroy, or discard records that may be relevant to the case.

Trump's headquarters once sought to distance itself from Powell after she held a conspiracy-filled press conference with fellow presidential lawyers, Giuliani and Jenna Ellis. But since then, Powell has visited the White House at least twice, and Trump has decided to appoint her as special adviser to investigate allegations of electoral fraud, which his own administration has called groundless.

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