Dominion Sues Newsmax, OANN and Overstock Founder For ‘Barrage of Lies’ Over 2020 Election
Dominion Voting Systems is expanding its aim.
The elections technology company filed defamation lawsuits against Newsmax, One America News Network, and former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne, alleging they spread false claims the firm rigged the election against Donald Trump.
Dominion, which has been the subject of wild conspiracy theories from Trump and his supporters that it switched votes from Trump to Joe Biden, is seeking $1.6 billion in each of its lawsuits, which were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The suit against against One America News Network also names as defendants president Charles Herring and founder Robert Herring Sr., as well as personalities Chanel Rion and Christina Bobb.
“The defendants in today’s filings recklessly disregarded the truth when they spread lies in November and continue to do so today,” Dominion CEO John Poulos said in a statement. “We are filing these three cases today because the defendants named show no remorse, nor any sign they intend to stop spreading disinformation. This barrage of lies by the defendants and others have caused — and continue to cause — severe damage to our company, customers, and employees. We have no choice but to seek to hold those responsible to account.”
Newsmax issued a statement defending its coverage of the 2020 election: “While Newsmax has not reviewed the Dominion filing, in its coverage of the 2020 Presidential elections, Newsmax simply reported on allegations made by well-known public figures, including the President, his advisors and members of Congress — Dominion’s action today is a clear attempt to squelch such reporting and undermine a free press.”
Dominion — as well as fellow voting tech company Smartmatic — previously sued Fox News for $1.6 billion, alleging the network spread false claims about the 2020 election. Fox News filed a motion to dismiss both the Dominion and Smartmatic lawsuits.
Dominion has also sued MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell — perhaps the most relentless 2020 election truther — for $1.3 billion.
Read the three complaints in full here: OAN Complaint; Newsmax Complaint; Byrne Complaint.
In December, under legal threat from Dominion and Smartmatic, Newsmax aired an extensive fact-check of claims made against the companies on the network.
“No evidence has been offered that Dominion or Smartmatic used software or reprogrammed software that manipulated votes in the 2020 election,” reported Newsmax anchor John Tabacco. “Smartmatic has stated its software was only used in the 2020 election in Los Angeles, and was not used in any battleground state contested by the Trump campaign and Newsmax has no evidence to the contrary.”
Newsmax also posted an apology to, and a retraction regarding a Dominion employee who said he was targeted by conspiracy theorists and feared for his life after he was targeted by Newsmax and other pro-Trump outlets in the wake of the 2020 election.
OAN, meanwhile, deleted a slew of stories about Dominion from its website in January without explanation.
