Dominion Voting Systems sued Newsmax, One America News Network (OAN) and former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne Tuesday for defamation after the far-right networks and businessman spread conspiracy theories about the election involving the company’s voting machines, the latest in a series of billion-dollar lawsuits Dominion has filed in the wake of the 2020 election.
KEY FACTS
OAN and Newsmax "helped create and cultivate an alternate reality where up is down, pigs have wings, and Dominion engaged in a colossal fraud to steal the presidency from Donald Trump by rigging the vote,” Dominion alleged, suing the networks along with OAN anchors Chanel Rion and Christina Bobb.
The voting machine company alleged the far-right networks “manufactured, endorsed, repeated, and broadcast a series of verifiably false yet devastating lies” about Dominion and its machines despite knowing the claims were false, including by “broadcasting and promoting” interviews with far-right figures Dominion has already sued like far-right attorneys Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani and MyPillowCEO Mike Lindell.
Newsmax—which unlike OAN and Byrne was sued in Delaware state court instead of federal court—“created an entire brand out of defaming Dominion,” the company alleged, pointing to anchor Greg Kelly’s segment “Democracy or Dominion,” while OAN similarly aired election fraud documentaries by Lindell and began a line of programming named “Dominion-ing the Vote.”
Byrne, the former Overstock CEO who has more recently become known for spreading election conspiracy theories, “manufactured and promoted fake evidence to convince the world that the 2020 election had been stolen” including through Dominion voting machines, Dominion alleged.
Byrne “bankrolled and promoted...facially implausible conspiracy theorists” including Russell Ramsland and Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan—who’s leading the election audit in Arizona—who have “manufacture[d]” lies about the election involving Dominion voting machines, the company alleged, noting former President Donald Trump’s advisors cut off Byrne’s access to Trump over his false claims.
The ex-Overstock chief “is far too intelligent to buy the nonsense he has been selling to the American public,” Dominion alleges, claiming Byrne stands to profit from Dominion’s failure after investing millions in blockchain voting technology “which can succeed only if voters and elected officials reject the auditable paper-based voting systems” Dominion uses.
BIG NUMBER
$1.6 billion. That’s approximately how much Dominion is asking for in damages from Byrne, Newsmax and OANN—more than the $1.3 billion figure the voting machine company has asked from Powell, Giuliani and Lindell, and the same figure they’ve asked from Fox News.
CRUCIAL QUOTE
“The defendants in today's filings recklessly disregarded the truth when they spread lies in November and continue to do so today. We are filing these three cases today because the defendants named show no remorse, nor any sign they intend to stop spreading disinformation,” Dominion CEO John Poulos said in a statement Tuesday. “We have no choice but to seek to hold those responsible to account.”
CHIEF CRITIC
Newsmax said in a statement to Forbes Tuesday that while it “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,” calling the lawsuit “a clear attempt to squelch such reporting and undermine a free press.” OAN has not yet responded to a request for comment.
KEY BACKGROUND
Dominion’s lawsuits Tuesday are the fifth, sixth and seventh the voting machine company has filed, after the conspiracy theory involving the company’s voting machines took hold on the far-right in the wake of the election. The company has also filed lawsuits against Powell, Giuliani, Lindell and MyPillow and Fox News.
FURTHER READING After Lawsuit Against Fox News, Here’s Who Dominion Has Sued So Far—And Who Could Be Next (Forbes)
The Exclusive Inside Story Of The Fall Of Overstock’s Mad King, Patrick Byrne (Forbes)
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