Attorney Sidney Powell said Monday that Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against her should be dismissed, arguing that its complaint was filed in the wrong jurisdiction and “no reasonable person would conclude” that her public claims that the company rigged last year’s general election were actually “statements of fact.”
What are the details?
Dominion filed a $1.3 billion lawsuit against Powell in early January after the pro-Trump attorney alleged during several public appearances that the company’s voting machines were able to be manipulated, were involved in overturning elections in several countries, and that she would release the “Kraken” and prove that they had been involved in former President Donald Trump losing the election.
Powell promised during a nationally broadcasted news conference at the Republican National Committee’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 19, 2020, that she would present evidence to prove her assertions. Shortly thereafter, the Trump campaign announced that she did not represent the campaign.
In response to Dominion’s lawsuit, Powell’s attorneys claimed in court filings, citing another case, that “the ‘language of the political arena, like the language used in labor disputes…is often vituperative, abusive and inexact.'”
Powell’s counsel went on to assert, “Such characterizations of the allegedly defamatory statements further support Defendants’ position that reasonable people would not accept such statements as fact but view them only as claims that await testing by the courts through the adversary process.”
Claiming Powell is protected by free speech, it also argued, “Those members of the public who were interested in the controversy were free to, and did, review that evidence and reached their own conclusions — or awaited resolution of the matter by the courts before making up their minds.”
The Washington Examiner pointed out that Powell told former Fox News host Lou Dobbs last year:
“I can hardly wait to put forth all the evidence we have collected on Dominion, starting with the fact that it was created to produce altered voting results in Venezuela for Hugo Chavez and then shipped internationally to manipulate votes for purchase in other countries, including this one.”
Release the Kraken: @SidneyPowell1 vows to expose the Silicon Valley and left-wing corporations that are using thei… https://t.co/qIL5GmbXLu
— Lou Dobbs (@Lou Dobbs)1605306957.0
Powell’s claims against Dominion were tested in court and failed, but she argues in her response to the lawsuit that her statements were protected by free speech.
The pro-Trump attorney also argued in her filings that Washington, D.C., was the “improper venue” to file such a claim, and that it should be dismissed and transferred to the state of Texas where Powell’s law firm is “registered and domiciled.”
Dominion said in its original complaint that “Powell’s wild accusations are demonstrably false,” arguing, “Acting in concert with allies and media outlets that were determined to promote a false preconceived narrative about the 2020 election, Powell launched a viral disinformation campaign about Dominion that reached millions of people and caused enormous harm to Dominion.”