Topline
Far-right attorney Sidney Powell’s attempt to thwart Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against her failed in court Wednesday, as a federal judge rejected her counterclaim against the company’s lawsuit, which takes issue with false claims about election fraud Powell spread about Dominion’s voting machines.
Former Trump attorney Sidney Powell beams for the cameras as she leaves the Federal Court in … [+] Washington, June 24, 2021.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Key Facts
U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols granted Dominion’s motion to dismiss Powell’s counterclaim, which asked the court to award her $10 million in damages and hold a jury trial in addition to declaring Dominion’s defamation claims unsuccessful.
The counterclaim alleged Dominion had committed “abuse of process” by bringing its $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit last year, because it “brought this case to punish and make an example of” Powell as a “public-relations campaign” to cover up the allegations about its voting machines.
Nichols, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, ruled there was no abuse of process because that would require showing “a perversion of the judicial process,” which Powell didn’t prove.
Powell’s counterclaim “fails to link her abuse-of-process claim to any act that Dominion has taken, other than filing and pursuing its lawsuit,” Nichols wrote, siding with Dominion’s argument when it asked the judge to dismiss the counterclaim.
Nichols previously dismissed a similar counterclaim MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell made against Dominion in its defamation lawsuit against him, noting Wednesday that he was dismissing Powell’s request “for substantially similar reasons.”
Powell has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Chief Critic
“Dominion’s actions were and are characterized by improper motive, willful, wanton and malicious conduct, and were intentionally designed to injure Ms. Powell and the other Defendants,” Powell’s counterclaim alleged.
What To Watch For
Dominion’s case against Powell, along with other lawsuits the company brought against attorney Rudy Giuliani and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, won’t go to trial until late 2023 or early 2024, based on a schedule Nichols set. The exact trial date won’t be known until at least July.
Key Background
Powell was the main Trump ally to push claims after the 2020 election tying election fraud to Dominion’s voting machines—which there is no evidence to support. Dominion filed suit against her in January 2021 for defamation, alleging she defamed the company by promoting a “false preconceived narrative.” Nichols denied Powell’s motion to dismiss the case in August 2021, ruling Dominion had sufficient grounds to argue she made her fraud claims “knowing that they were false or with reckless disregard for the truth.” After filing its first lawsuit against Powell, Dominion and rival voting company Smartmatic—which has also sued Powell—have gone on to file approximately a dozen lawsuits against individuals and companies who pushed false claims about their machines, including Fox News and several of its anchors, Newsmax, OANN and former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne. Powell and the other plaintiffs who have been sued have largely remained defiant about their election fraud claims, and Powell continued to assert her claims about the company’s machines in her countersuit.
Further Reading
Court Lets Lawsuit Against Mike Lindell Move Forward—Here’s Where Dominion And Smartmatic’s Defamation Suits Stand Now (Forbes)
Dominion Lawsuits Against Sidney Powell, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell And Giuliani Can Move Forward, Court Rules (Forbes)
Dominion Voting Sues Sidney Powell For Defamation Over Election Conspiracy—And Others May Be Next (Forbes)
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