The Big Lie was different
Four Seasons Total Landscaping won’t get him out of this one. Giuliani being sued for telling damaging lies:
An election technology company that has been the focus of consistent conspiracy theories by Donald Trump and his allies has sued the former President’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani for defamation after he pushed the “Big Lie” about election fraud on his podcast and TV appearances.
Dominion Voting Systems is seeking more than $1.3 billion in damages.
“Just as Giuliani and his allies intended, the Big Lie went viral on social media as people tweeted, retweeted, and raged that Dominion had stolen their votes. While some lies — little lies — flare up on social media and die with the next news cycle, the Big Lie was different,” lawyers for Dominion wrote in the lawsuit, filed in DC District Court on Monday morning. “The harm to Dominion’s business and reputation is unprecedented and irreparable because of how fervently millions of people believe it.”
Wouldn’t you think a lawyer would be more cautious? Maybe that’s just me.
“Dominion’s defamation lawsuit for $1.3B will allow me to investigate their history, finances, and practices fully and completely,” Giuliani told CNN in a statement Monday. “The amount being asked for is, quite obviously, intended to frighten people of faint heart. It is another act of intimidation by the hate-filled left-wing to wipe out and censor the exercise of free speech, as well as the ability of lawyers to defend their clients vigorously.”
Is the right wing love-filled? I hadn’t noticed that so much.
I generally am skeptical of, and take a dim view of the utility of, defamation suits as a way of resolving public controversies. But Dominion has a real case here from what I can tell, backed up by real damages.
And Rudy better be careful with all that crowing about discovery — it’s a two-way street. I bet there’s some interesting stuff in Rudy’s communications, and attorney-client privilege might not be as broad as he hopes. (Also, we know Rudy is … not the best at information security?)
Yeah Rudi, you’ve got them where you want them, they’re on the ropes.
Will delving into Dominion’s history, finances and practices show that Giuliani’s claims of fraud and rigging are true? He wasn’t able to that before; why should that change now? But if Dominion has ever donated to any Democrat anywhere, however much they might have given out to Republicans, Rudi will proclaim this a smocking gun and declare victory, whatever happens in court. And millions would believe that, too.
Or, the amount being asked for is intended to punish someone who has been very publicly trashing the company’s reputation for months? And that that trashing was successful enough to be part of the tinder used to ignite the January 6 terrorist attack on the Capitol? Calling for “trial by combat” is not defending one’s client vigourously, it’s an admission that you have no evidence for your case and have decided to resort to violence to win your case.
Maybe Rudi should sue Trump for the fees he owes him first, so Giuliani has something to pay up with. Good luck with that.
Could well put a boxcar effect through the whole US economy, recession-proofing it for all time.