DE - Dominion Voting Systems vs. Fox News, $1.6B Defamation Trial for 2020 election lies, 17 Apr 2023 *Settled $787m* + add’l trials

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Trump allies Michael Flynn and Steve Bannon have been subpoenaed by Smartmatic as part of the voting technology company’s massive defamation lawsuits against Fox News and Newsmax over their promotion of 2020 election lies.

Court filings made public last week in New York and Delaware indicate that Flynn and Bannon were hit with subpoenas, demanding that they sit for depositions and answer questions under oath. The depositions were initially scheduled for this week, though timing can change based on negotiations and other developments in the lawsuits.

Bannon is also required to turn over subpoenaed documents to Smartmatic, including any communications with top officials from Fox News, the Trump campaign and the Trump administration about the 2020 presidential election, according to court filings.

I have a note regarding this case to post it on the DC (Jan 6th) thread. Would you I rather post it here? Or will there be a separate Smartmatic thread for this $2.7B lawsuit?
No dates yet in my notes for this case. Just taking notes on the case.
 
I have a note regarding this case to post it on the DC (Jan 6th) thread. Would you I rather post it here? Or will there be a separate Smartmatic thread for this $2.7B lawsuit?
No dates yet in my notes for this case. Just taking notes on the case.

Let’s keep all the Fox News cases here in one thread for now.
 

In a defamation lawsuit against her from Dominion Voting Systems, attorney Sidney Powell—who advised Trump and unsuccessfully brought lawsuits alleging election fraud, but wasn’t formally affiliated with his campaign—defended herself by arguing that “no reasonable person would conclude that the statements [about election fraud involving Dominion machines] were statements of fact,” and her fraud claims were rather political statements that people would understand are “inexact” and “prone to exaggeration and hyperbole.”

Powell and her co-counsel were sanctioned in Michigan, and Giuliani, Powell and other Trump allies have been sued for defamation by Dominion and rival voting company Smartmatic for fraud claims involving their machines
 

In a defamation lawsuit against her from Dominion Voting Systems, attorney Sidney Powell—who advised Trump and unsuccessfully brought lawsuits alleging election fraud, but wasn’t formally affiliated with his campaign—defended herself by arguing that “no reasonable person would conclude that the statements [about election fraud involving Dominion machines] were statements of fact,” and her fraud claims were rather political statements that people would understand are “inexact” and “prone to exaggeration and hyperbole.”

Powell and her co-counsel were sanctioned in Michigan, and Giuliani, Powell and other Trump allies have been sued for defamation by Dominion and rival voting company Smartmatic for fraud claims involving their machines
Well that's a crock!!!!
 

Voting technology firm Smartmatic is seeking sanctions against Rudy Giuliani over the ongoing delay amid orders compelling him to cooperate by providing non-privileged documents as part of the discovery process. Smartmatic detailed Giuliani’s apparent recalcitrance in a motion filed in New York state court Monday.

“‘The dog ate my homework.’ ‘I have to wash my hair.’ ‘I can’t go out, I’m sick,'” the motion begins. “Since the dawn of time, people have made up excuses to avoid doing things they do not want to do. This is exactly what Giuliani has done here.”

“To date, Giuliani has not produced a single non-public document responsive to the discovery requests Smartmatic issued fourteen months ago,” the motion says. “Giuliani and his counsel must be held accountable for their repeated and blatant delay tactics and misrepresentations. Smartmatic’s patience should not be punished with further delay and excuses. Enough is enough.”

Noting that Smartmatic itself has produced nearly 11 million pages of responsive documents in discovery, the plaintiff reminds the court that “Smartmatic is the victim here.”

“Smartmatic is the one that Giuliani publicly and repeatedly defamed,” the motion continues. “The wrongdoer is again engaged in wrongdoing. Giuliani and his counsel should not be allowed to get away with this behavior.”
“Smartmatic could see the lie loud and clear,” the motion says (citations omitted). “Giuliani and his counsel would promise to produce documents, promise it would be done by a date certain, and then fail to meet that commitment. Immediately after failing to meet the production deadline, Giuliani and his counsel would concoct a new (or repeat an old) excuse for failing to produce documents. Recognizing this now familiar pattern, Smartmatic gave Giuliani one last chance to produce documents by August 7, 2023. Giuliani, of course, missed this deadline too.”
 

Voting technology firm Smartmatic is seeking sanctions against Rudy Giuliani over the ongoing delay amid orders compelling him to cooperate by providing non-privileged documents as part of the discovery process. Smartmatic detailed Giuliani’s apparent recalcitrance in a motion filed in New York state court Monday.

“‘The dog ate my homework.’ ‘I have to wash my hair.’ ‘I can’t go out, I’m sick,'” the motion begins. “Since the dawn of time, people have made up excuses to avoid doing things they do not want to do. This is exactly what Giuliani has done here.”

“To date, Giuliani has not produced a single non-public document responsive to the discovery requests Smartmatic issued fourteen months ago,” the motion says. “Giuliani and his counsel must be held accountable for their repeated and blatant delay tactics and misrepresentations. Smartmatic’s patience should not be punished with further delay and excuses. Enough is enough.”

Noting that Smartmatic itself has produced nearly 11 million pages of responsive documents in discovery, the plaintiff reminds the court that “Smartmatic is the victim here.”

“Smartmatic is the one that Giuliani publicly and repeatedly defamed,” the motion continues. “The wrongdoer is again engaged in wrongdoing. Giuliani and his counsel should not be allowed to get away with this behavior.”
“Smartmatic could see the lie loud and clear,” the motion says (citations omitted). “Giuliani and his counsel would promise to produce documents, promise it would be done by a date certain, and then fail to meet that commitment. Immediately after failing to meet the production deadline, Giuliani and his counsel would concoct a new (or repeat an old) excuse for failing to produce documents. Recognizing this now familiar pattern, Smartmatic gave Giuliani one last chance to produce documents by August 7, 2023. Giuliani, of course, missed this deadline too.”
Narrator: There is no evidence for Giuliani to produce.

jmo
 

Smartmatic, in its defamation case against Giuliani that prompted his growing data-hosting bill, asked a judge to sanction Giuliani – including by ordering him to reimburse the company’s legal fees – for failing to provide the company his records.

Dominion Voting Systems, which is also suing Giuliani for defamation, is seeking documents for their case but has not pressed the issue of sanctions before a judge at this time. Giuliani also faces a fourth defamation lawsuit related to the election from an executive at Dominion. 

Smartmatic pointed to the Trump PAC’s payments to Trustpoint as reason that Giuliani should be able to comply with its demands that he search his records and provide the company evidence as it builds its case, because it’s now apparent others might pay for Giuliani’s growing expenses.

But the former mayor said that’s not the case in his court filings on Monday.

Giuliani “cannot afford to pay at this point” another $15,000 to $23,000 for more searches for documents in the case, his attorneys wrote.

The New York state judge overseeing Smartmatic’s defamation case has a hearing set for Wednesday.
 

Rudy-Giuliani-767x633-1.jpg


Rudy Giuliani has until the end of the month to turn over outstanding discovery sought by Smartmatic as part of its $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox, a Manhattan judge ruled. Manhattan Judge David Cohen was apparently unmoved by arguments that Giuliani could not afford to pay his discovery vendor.
 

" at the start of Wednesday’s confab, Lindell told the crowd that he wouldn’t show any new evidence of rampant voter fraud, adding that he’d already shown enough in the past. After taking the stage, a screen blared 'Election Crime Bureau' behind him."


During a conversation with The Daily Beast last month in which he laid out his “My Cousin Vinny” plan to defeat Dominion Voting System’s $1.3-billion defamation lawsuit against him, Lindell previewed this event. Promising that it would “fix the elections” and “everyone is gonna love this,” Lindell wondered why no one had ever thought of this before. At the same time, he claimed this week’s summit would help him defeat the Dominion suit over his baseless election fraud claims because of the overwhelming evidence he’d supposedly reveal.
 

" at the start of Wednesday’s confab, Lindell told the crowd that he wouldn’t show any new evidence of rampant voter fraud, adding that he’d already shown enough in the past. After taking the stage, a screen blared 'Election Crime Bureau' behind him."


During a conversation with The Daily Beast last month in which he laid out his “My Cousin Vinny” plan to defeat Dominion Voting System’s $1.3-billion defamation lawsuit against him, Lindell previewed this event. Promising that it would “fix the elections” and “everyone is gonna love this,” Lindell wondered why no one had ever thought of this before. At the same time, he claimed this week’s summit would help him defeat the Dominion suit over his baseless election fraud claims because of the overwhelming evidence he’d supposedly reveal.
OMG, I admit this got me laughing:

"In true Lindell fashion, of course, the event went off the rails in only a matter of minutes, after he mistakenly aired a video of Jimmy Kimmel."

 
OMG, I admit this got me laughing:

"In true Lindell fashion, of course, the event went off the rails in only a matter of minutes, after he mistakenly aired a video of Jimmy Kimmel."

Pass the video to #45 for his big show Monday, if he’s not in jail.
 
I'm a "define your terms" kind of gal, and I keep waiting for someone to tell these bozos that "making a claim" and saying other random stuff does not constitute *evidence*.

I don't watch tv so maybe Jimmy Kimmel and others have done just that, but it doesn't slow the bozos down much I guess.

It's like a large chunk of the public no longer knows (if they ever did) the difference between objective and subjective.

And ever since the internet appeared, the concepts of "trusted experts" and "reliable source" have become so fuzzy...

The example I like to use is, if someone asked you how far away is the sun. And you looked up two sources and one says 39 million miles and the other says 93 million miles. You might not know what the correct answer is. And if the source with the wrong answer did so intentionally, they could easily exploit people who honestly don't know the answer.

But you could also decide to learn enough astronomy and geometry to make the calculation yourself. Or you could look up 98 other sources and see that 99 of them say 93 million miles and only one says 39 million miles and so it is probably a typo...

MOO
 
I'm a "define your terms" kind of gal, and I keep waiting for someone to tell these bozos that "making a claim" and saying other random stuff does not constitute *evidence*.

I don't watch tv so maybe Jimmy Kimmel and others have done just that, but it doesn't slow the bozos down much I guess.

It's like a large chunk of the public no longer knows (if they ever did) the difference between objective and subjective.

And ever since the internet appeared, the concepts of "trusted experts" and "reliable source" have become so fuzzy...

The example I like to use is, if someone asked you how far away is the sun. And you looked up two sources and one says 39 million miles and the other says 93 million miles. You might not know what the correct answer is. And if the source with the wrong answer did so intentionally, they could easily exploit people who honestly don't know the answer.

But you could also decide to learn enough astronomy and geometry to make the calculation yourself. Or you could look up 98 other sources and see that 99 of them say 93 million miles and only one says 39 million miles and so it is probably a typo...

MOO

You're absolutely right -- but I'd rephrase the example like this:

A Dem/ Lib / Coastal Elite / notes that the sun is 93 million miles away, backed up by 99/100 available sources, but your own trusted source tells you that "common sense" shows that the sun is just far enough away for you to see it with your own eyes, and since you can't possibly see 93 million miles, it's obviously much less than that.

And since you only trust the source you trust, you believe them.

I don't think there's any pretense of doing the research in a non-ideological way, gathering all the best available evidence and then evaluating that evidence in order to come to a carefully reasoned conclusion based on clear-sighted analysis.

Ideological affiliation predisposes conclusions and overrides analysis. The late, often great Richard Rorty used to talk about truth claims as competing stories told over a cultural campfire, where the best story could win.

Now it isn't even about the best story. It's whatever story told by a trusted source who's ideologically aligned. That's how people can sit in an audience and not care that MyPillowMike can spew obviously, ridiculously false and conclusively debunked claims without any evidence at all while asserting their truthfulness as a spurious Jimmy K monologue plays behind them -- without embarrassment.

It's a very curious state of affairs, but a very dangerous one. Far more dangerous IMO than many seem to want to believe. And it travels well.
 

Fox News on Wednesday (August 23) argued in the court that its hosts and guests were just raising questions and “presented a puzzle to unravel” when they continuously and falsely suggested that January 6 rioter Ray Epps was a government agent who had allegedly orchestrated the Capitol attack.

The defence argument was made in a defamation suit that was filed by Epps against the right-wing network. In his suit, he claimed that Fox figures, including its former host Tucker Carlson, ruined his reputation by repeatedly suggesting that a false-flag plot for hurting Donald Trump was led by him. He added that the claims made by the host were baseless.

A Delaware federal judge is being asked by Fox News to throw out the lawsuit.

The defamation case is one of those many pending similar suits that were filed after the 2020 election and the false claims of Trump that the results were rigged.
 

The far-right media organization One America News Network has settled a defamation lawsuit brought against the company by Eric Coomer, a former executive of Dominion Voting Systems who went into hiding amid the proliferation of false conspiracy theories about him following Donald Trump's loss in the 2020 election.

In an August 30 filing in Denver County District Court in Colorado, Coomer and the defendants — OAN, its chief White House correspondent Chanel Rion, and parent company Herring Networks — said they jointly agreed to dismiss the case.

Coomer's claims against the Trump campaign, Giuliani, Powell, and other defendants remain pending.

Several cable carriers have cut ties with OANfollowing the 2020 election, leading to financial struggles for the network.
 

Prominent Donald Trump supporter and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell repeatedly lost his temper, left the room and swore at opposing counsel during a series of depositions earlier this year, according to newly released videos and transcripts.

The extraordinary interviews were conducted as part of a defamation lawsuit brought by Dr. Eric Coomer, former director of product strategy and security at Dominion Voting Systems, who has accused Lindell of repeatedly defaming him in public and online following Trump's loss in the 2020 presidential race.

March 8 deposition transcript


 
Because Mike Lindell was so uncooperative during his depositions, Dr Coomer (Dominion) filed a “Motion to Compel Deposition Testimony from Michael Lindell and Motion for Sanctions” describing Lindell’s behavior during his depositions.


And for your viewing “pleasure,” My Pillow Guy in action (mp4 files). Unbelievable! I’d be hard-pressed to think of any more disrespectful display than this, which continued for hours, as he filibustered on each question. How Lindell can sustain this level of victimhood and hostility is beyond me. He is a sick man IMO.

 
I don’t understand why Lindell’s attorney was so passive when his client was being disrespectful. He tried to mildly reel him in a handful of times, but he mainly just let Lindell behave abominably. Wouldn’t it be his duty to advise him that his behavior was going to cost him? Or maybe he saw that Lindell aggressively responded to Coomer’s attorney’s warnings to that effect and figured it was no use. How could any attorney want to represent Lindell?!

JMO
 

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