Dominion Files Suit against Fox News, Smartmatic Piles On

[Breccia]

Ahhhh...life.

Trump went on Newsmax for what could be the last interview he gives them because

All right, folks, now just to note: Newsmax has accepted the election results as legal and final

-- the host, Eric Bolling, in a separately recorded bit stapled to the end of the interview

Now why (points at thread title) would they decided to say that?

[Dontrike]

Ahhhh...life.

Trump went on Newsmax for what could be the last interview he gives them because


-- the host, Eric Bolling, in a separately recorded bit stapled to the end of the interview

Now why (points at thread title) would they decided to say that?

I like this part from it where Newsmax has to do that Pinocchio thing where they have to use a bunch of language to get around the rules.

[Breccia]

Funny story:

Giuliani, meanwhile, faces 13 charges total--

"Wrong thread."

No no, bear with me, it gets better.

including false statements and writing, racketeering, conspiracy to commit impersonating a public officer, conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree and conspiracy to commit filing false documents, among others.

The indictment cites Giuliani’s efforts to get Georgia state officials to unlawfully appoint presidential electors from the state in violation of the terms of their oath of office.

It also accuses Giuliani of making false statements and writing when he said at a Georgia Senate subcommittee meeting that at least 96,000 mail-in ballots were counted in the 2020 presidential election, despite there being no record of those ballots having been returned to the county elections office.

It also cites Giuliani’s claim that Dominion Voting Systems equipment mistakenly recorded 6,000 votes for Joe Biden instead of Trump.

Oh, snap. Near as I can tell, the Dominion suit against Giuliani is ongoing. But, just throwing it out there, the burden of proof with a criminal investigation is much higher than a lawsuit. If the GA DA thinks it'll hold up in court, Dominion can use it to pound his nuts flat.

[gondrin]

I like this part from it where Newsmax has to do that Pinocchio thing where they have to use a bunch of language to get around the rules.

- - - Updated - - -

So, onto Mike Lindell and his No Evidence of a Stolen Election Symposium, otherwise known as the "Election Crime Summit".

What was shown there? A clip of Jimmy Kimmel mistakenly.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opini...c082a96ae&ei=9

Mike Lindell’s Big ‘Election Crime’ Summit Flops at the Start

MAGA pillow magnate Mike Lindell kicked off his latest “election crime” summit on Wednesday by boasting how the “important” event would once and for all provide a “plan to secure our elections immediately.”

In true Lindell fashion, of course, the event went off the rails in only a matter of minutes, after he mistakenly aired a video of Jimmy Kimmel.

During a conversation with The Daily Beast last month in which he laid out his “My Cousin Vinny” plan to defeat Dominion Voting System’s $1.3-billion defamation lawsuit against him, Lindell previewed this event. Promising that it would “fix the elections” and “everyone is gonna love this,” Lindell wondered why no one had ever thought of this before. At the same time, he claimed this week’s summit would help him defeat the Dominion suit over his baseless election fraud claims because of the overwhelming evidence he’d supposedly reveal.

Following the indictment of former President Donald Trump for attempting to overthrow Georgia’s election results, Lindell further hyped up the Missouri conference by calling Trump the “real president” and vowing to unveil the “perfect,” divine-ordained plan to “bring hope to our country.” The pillow mogul added that he “kept this plan to secure our elections completely secret” and would reveal it all at the event.

However, at the start of Wednesday’s confab, Lindell told the crowd that he wouldn’t show any new evidence of rampant voter fraud, adding that he’d already shown enough in the past. After taking the stage, a screen blared “Election Crime Bureau” behind him.

“This historical election summit is so important that it’s being broadcast around the world in 85 languages on FrankSpeech.com,” he declared. “This election summit is not going to be about more evidence. We have enough evidence. Evidence has been the easy part. This summit is all about hope and the plan to secure our elections immediately.”

He then directed the audience to the screen to watch a video, only to quickly grow flustered: It was the wrong video, showing Kimmel delivering a monologue. (The late-night host has famously hosted Lindell to roast the MyPillow chief over his conspiracy theories about the 2020 election being “stolen” from Trump.)

“No, no, no. This is the wrong one,” Lindell shouted as the crowd laughed. “This is the wrong one. Hold on. Well, that’s coming!”

Of course, Lindell bumbling during a symposium that offered empty promises of exposing election fraud was ultimately nothing new.

In fact, an arbitrator recently ruled that Lindell must pay $5 million to a man who disproved the election-denying businessman’s claims of Chinese interference in the 2020 election during his 2021 “Cyber Symposium.” Lindell, meanwhile, is disputing the ruling and insists he will come out “victorious” in the end.

With a renewed focus on Trump’s false claims of a “rigged” 2020 election due to the recent indictments, Lindell’s summit is ground zero this week for election dead-enders and conspiracists. Among those scheduled to speak this week are Trump’s fellow Georgia indictee Rudy Giuliani, former Trump strategist (and Jan. 6 plotter) Steve Bannon, and ex-Fox host Lou Dobbs.

[Breccia]

DOJ fires off exasperated motion after being dragged into MyPillow-Dominion lawsuit over ‘inexplicable attempts to compel testimony’ about ‘unrelated’ 17-year-old case

(sighs)

The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday filed an exasperated motion in an ongoing dispute involving a voting software company that is suing an infamous right-wing pillow seller – saying one of their attorneys has “inexplicably” been subpoenaed in the case, that she has nothing of relevance to add to it, and should just be left alone.

Earlier this summer, My Pillow, Inc. filed a motion to compel the testimony of DOJ attorney, Carlotta Wells. The career government lawyer, however, was not previously involved in the civil dispute between the voting machine companies and the bedding retailer.

The DOJ’s motion says “Wells has no personal knowledge of any facts bearing on the truth or falsity of those statements” in Dominion’s defamation lawsuit – and MyPillow doesn’t even assert as much. Rather, the DOJ says, Lindell and MyPillow “subpoenaed Wells’ testimony” over “an unrelated seventeen-year-old case” between a software company and its former software designer/co-owner.

In that 2006 case, Wells worked as trial counsel for the government.

But in that software dispute, the U.S. government was only belatedly involved. The DOJ was compelled to become a third party after the plaintiff filed a cross-claim against the Department of Defense in order to have a court declare that an earlier classified nondisclosure agreement “did not preclude him from disclosing information allegedly necessary to his claims and defenses.”

Wells argued for the government in that 2006 case, successfully preventing Dennis Montgomery from relaying “state secrets” in order to vindicate certain allegations against his former company.

The case was eventually settled in 2009.

“Despite the passage of almost two decades and a lack of any connection between [the settled software case] and the 2020 election, [Lindell and My Pillow, Inc.] subpoenaed Wells in the instant matter purportedly to ‘provide information showing that Mr. Lindell’s reliance on Mr. Montgomery and the information he stated he possessed was reasonable,'” the DOJ’s motion says.

Lindell is asking this "witness" to testify on the grounds

Lindell’s statements about the 2020 election being hacked were based in part on information Lindell received about the work of Dennis Montgomery,.

Lindell heard that at these companies Montgomery had developed and used computer software that allowed the federal government to monitor internet communications and to manipulate computerized voting machines used in foreign countries.

I'm of the opinion that "Lindell heard" has the same legal weight as "some guy on Twitter said" or "Trump said". In other words, nearly zero. Let's also add, there's nothing in a software from 2009 that's being used in 2023 -- a company that prides itself on security will routinely make changes.

[masterhorus8]

DOJ fires off exasperated motion after being dragged into MyPillow-Dominion lawsuit over ‘inexplicable attempts to compel testimony’ about ‘unrelated’ 17-year-old case

(sighs)



Lindell is asking this "witness" to testify on the grounds



I'm of the opinion that "Lindell heard" has the same legal weight as "some guy on Twitter said" or "Trump said". In other words, nearly zero. Let's also add, there's nothing in a software from 2009 that's being used in 2023 -- a company that prides itself on security will routinely make changes.

Wait... I'm having a hard time following this. So Wells represented Dennis in an unrelated case 17 years ago, and Lindell thinks Wells knows something about Dennis almost 2 decades later?

[Shkar]

Wait... I'm having a hard time following this. So Wells represented Dennis in an unrelated case 17 years ago, and Lindell thinks Wells knows something about Dennis almost 2 decades later?

Oh, goodness no. That would be ridiculous.

Wells represented the government as a third party in a case between Wells and his employer. Wells dragged the government in because he was under some kind of DoD non-disclosure agreement.

[Surfd]

Wait... I'm having a hard time following this. So Wells represented Dennis in an unrelated case 17 years ago, and Lindell thinks Wells knows something about Dennis almost 2 decades later?

- Montgomery worked for a software company in 2006.
- Wells was brought into represent the government when they were roped into the case, with the purpose of preventing Montgomery from violating a "State Secrets" NDA to support his allegations against said software company.

basically, my read here is that PillowPimp is attempting to suggest that Wells preventing this guy from violating his NDA on behalf of the government 17 years ago is proof that what he "heard" from Montgomery about election hacking was believable, and wants to get Wells on the stand to try to prove that the NDA is obviously a smoking gun indicating that he was working for the government on ultra secret election interference software.

I wonder how Montgomery feels about the fact that PillowPimp may literally be trying to enter "My associate was under a state secrets NDA and violated it for my benefit" into the official record as part of his defence.....

[masterhorus8]

- Montgomery worked for a software company in 2006.
- Wells was brought into represent the government when they were roped into the case, with the purpose of preventing Montgomery from violating a "State Secrets" NDA to support his allegations against said software company.

basically, my read here is that PillowPimp is attempting to suggest that Wells preventing this guy from violating his NDA on behalf of the government 17 years ago is proof that what he "heard" from Montgomery about election hacking was believable, and wants to get Wells on the stand to try to prove that the NDA is obviously a smoking gun indicating that he was working for the government on ultra secret election interference software.

I wonder how Montgomery feels about the fact that PillowPimp may literally be trying to enter "My associate was under a state secrets NDA and violated it for my benefit" into the official record as part of his defence.....

I'm still confused, but I guess that's part of the problem with Lindell's request?

[Edge-]

Speaking of Lindell - https://uproxx.com/viral/mike-lindel...debt-millions/

It should be noted that the source of Mike Lindell’s finances is entirely Mike Lindell, and that picture seemingly changes with the wind. Earlier this year, he claimed that his MyPillow empire was losing money after being dumped by major big box retailers like Walmart. Lindell claimed he had to take out a $10 million loan after already blowing $30 million pushing Trump’s voter fraud scheme.

However, a few months later he told Steve Bannon that MyPillow couldn’t be better thanks to the invention of MyPillow 2.0. That news only last another few months before Lindell was in the news for auctioning off equipment in a fire sale.

So is Mike Lindell really in debt? We’ll probably never know until he goes to court for one of the multi-billion dollar lawsuits levied against him by Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic.

We can all agree: Mike Lindell is not exactly a trustworthy source for anything, even his own finances.

But I think we can also agree: If his shitty (per my grandmother's review) pillows aren't in retailers really, he's selling heavy duty equipment, he's refusing to pay the millions he owes to people who successfully completed his "challenge", he's engaged in a mountain of litigation, and nobody is buying his pillows, that it's very reasonable to assume he's probably in debt up to his eyeballs.

I mean, the dude did have his phone confiscated as part of an ongoing investigation in the Hardee's parking lot, after all. No hate on the join, I've never eaten there, but it's not exactly fine dining.

[Breccia]

I'm still confused, but I guess that's part of the problem with Lindell's request?

Yes, the part where it's supposed to be confusing. It's what happens when your lawyer is a criminal and possibly addicted to cocaine.

We can all agree: Mike Lindell is not exactly a trustworthy source for anything, even his own finances.

I've been saying for a while, we cannot trust anything Trump says unless he's on the stand. I guess I should have been less specific.

[Breccia]

Dual posting this.

FOX News interrupts Trump speech to say Trump is lying and the election is not stolen.

[Breccia]

In blow to Fox Corp., judge rules Smartmatic case over 2020 election lies can proceed

Yeah, so, this is the closest-looking thread. Possible rename?

The voting technology company Smartmatic can move forward with its defamation lawsuit against Fox Corporation, a New York judge ruled Wednesday, dealing a blow to the parent company of Fox News, which is already fighting the massive lawsuit over its repeated airing of 2020 election lies.

The decision from Manhattan Supreme Court Judge David Cohen represents a significant setback to Fox’s corporate leadership, including the powerful Murdoch family, who will now face more scrutiny in the litigation. Cohen already let the case proceed against Fox News — and on Wednesday, he rejected a request by Fox Corporation to throw out the claims against the parent company.

The judge said Smartmatic’s case was strong enough to proceed against the parent company because it has “sufficiently alleged that (Fox) Corp. employees acted with malice by purposely and deliberating publishing knowingly false stories about (Smartmatic) in order to benefit (Fox) Corp.’s financial interest.”

Smartmatic has “sufficiently alleged in their amended complaint that (Fox) Corp. employees played an affirmative role in the publication of the defamation at issue,” Cohen concluded.

The parent corporation had argued that it shouldn’t be involved in the defamation case because it only had general oversight of Fox News itself. *ding* Further, Fox Corp. argued there wasn’t proof that any corporate employees “directed” the allegedly defamatory statements to be aired.*ding*

I do have to like FOX's defense. "It wasn't us making these objectively false statements, just the people we pay to make objectively false statements on our behalf." Sounds like they're trying to LLC their way out of this.

Oh, and the funny part, is that every time FOX News tries to make a statement defending itself, and I quote it, I get a CNN point. For example:

The judge also on Wednesday gave Fox News a greenlight to continue its counterclaims against Smartmatic. The right-wing network is alleging that Smartmatic’s massive $2.7 billion request for damages is a legally baseless attempt to silence the network’s free-speech rights.

Fox filed its counterclaims against Smartmatic last year *ding*, in a bid to push back against the company and recover the money it’s spending on high-priced attorneys to defend itself.

The attempt to counterclaim will fail. FOX News already settled, so any attempts to say "the allegations are baseless" have eight hundred million arguments against it.

[Flarelaine]

This is indeed the right thread. Edited title to include both.

[Breccia]

It's time again for Guess the Speaker!

What was actually said during the hearing was that the law firm representing Mr. Bobulinski was paid by a Trump PAC. I have seen no indication those payments were made in connection with Mr. Bobulinski’s legal fees, and he denies that they were.

The answer is our good friend FOX News. Specifically, Jessica Tarlov of The Five.

"Okay, but, why are you posting here?"

Because Tony Bobulinski, whom you might remember was a favorable witness in the GOP's attempt to impeach Hunter Biden, is suing Tarlov for defamation.

Lawyers for Bobulinski and Stefan Passantino — his attorney — alleged Tarlov’s initial comment, in which she said, “Ok, Tony Bobulinski’s lawyers; fees have been paid by a Trump super PAC. That’s as recent as January,” was made to “achieve media headlines and ratings.”

The comment “deliberately besmirched” the character of Bobulinski and Passantino and was “an attempt to discredit” his earlier testimony before the House Oversight Committee, Bobulinski’s lawyers wrote in the suit.

The lawyers argued Tarlov did not make a “complete retraction and apology” during her on-air clarification, calling it “half-hearted, incomplete and unacceptable,” in a second letter to the host.

He's asking for $30 million in damages.

FOX News is standing by their retraction being good enough, trying to handwave the part where they said something that was objectively false because they don't know how journalism works.

"Surely he won't get $30 million, his reputation was never worth that much."

While this does smell of "blood in the water" bear in mind FOX News already fucked up badly...and then did this. I think this case goes to settlement because FOX News knows they'll lose again.

[Edge-]

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/04/03/m...max-trial-date

A judge has scheduled a major defamation case against right-wing cable channel Newsmax to go to trial in late September, putting the battle over 2020 election lies front-and-center at the peak of the 2024 campaign.

Newsmax and the voting technology company Smartmatic could still reach an out-of-court settlement, and further delays are possible. But if the September 24 trial date holds, the fallout from former President Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election will be on full display as he tries to return to the White House.

The trial would also be the first of more than a dozen high-profile defamation cases to face a jury, all stemming from the false claims that Smartmatic and another voting company, Dominion Voting Systems, rigged the 2020 election by flipping millions of votes from Trump to Joe Biden. Those lies — championed by Trump and his allies in Congress and the right-wing press — fueled the deadly insurrection on January 6, 2021.

The Newsmax trial is slated to take place in Delaware Superior Court, and Judge Eric Davis, who presided over the historic case brought by Dominion against Fox News last year, is similarly handling the Newsmax-Smartmatic lawsuit. The case is still in the discovery phase, and it’s possible Davis decides later that it shouldn’t proceed to trial.

Smartmatic filed the lawsuit in 2021, claiming that Newsmax intentionally promoted lies that the company was involved in rigging the election because it helped the network close the ratings gap with Fox.

“Newsmax published dozens of reports indicating that Smartmatic participated in a criminal conspiracy to rig and steal the 2020 U.S. election… Newsmax knew it had a story that was getting people to tune in to its shows, so Newsmax ran the story night after night. Newsmax knew it was a lie the whole time,’ Smartmatic’s lawyers wrote in the original lawsuit.

Davis allowed Smartmatic’s team to expand the lawsuit last year, to cover additional on-air statements from Newsmax hosts and guests that it believes were defamatory.

“Newsmax will show at trial overwhelming evidence that we never embraced stolen election claims and that we accepted Biden’s election while significantly reporting on criticism of President Trump’s claims,” Newsmax spokesman Bill Daddi said in a statement.

Owned by Trump ally Christopher Ruddy, Newsmax isn’t a media juggernaut like Fox. The network’s lineup features several former Fox personalities like Eric Bolling and Greta Van Susteren, as well as controversial ex-Trump White House official Sebastian Gorka and Clinton ally-turned-foe Dick Morris.

A trial could have significant implications for the First Amendment and how journalists cover Trump’s election lies. Further, a courtroom defeat for Newsmax could put the company in real financial peril.

The conservative network doesn’t attract a large audience like Fox News, but Newsmax’s ratings surged after the 2020 election. In the wake of the vote, Trump supporters flocked to the network as its hosts and guests questioned the legitimacy of Biden’s victory.

But Newsmax is also different from Fox in another key respect. In December 2020, after Smartmatic sent a letter to Newsmax threatening legal action, the network ran an on-air segment and published an article clearly stating there was “no evidence” that Smartmatic or Dominion ever “manipulated votes in the 2020 election,” even though “various guests, attorneys and elected officials” claimed otherwise on its airwaves.

In addition to the Newsmax case, Smartmatic is also suing Fox News, the fringe far-right cable channel OAN and Trump allies like Rudy Giuliani and Mike Lindell, who peddled the same election lies.

The September trial date was originally set for Newsmax and Dominion, who are engaged in a separate defamation lawsuit. But there were delays in that case, creating an opening for the Smartmatic case.

I doubt Newsmax has a billion dollars laying around to settle this out of court like Fox did, so this should sure be interesting!

Yeah, this hasn't gone away yet.

[Poopymonster]

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/04/03/m...max-trial-date



I doubt Newsmax has a billion dollars laying around to settle this out of court like Fox did, so this should sure be interesting!

Yeah, this hasn't gone away yet.

I would eagerly watch the new "Smartmatic News Channel" if only to piss on the corpse of Newsmax and OAN.

[postman1782]

I would eagerly watch the new "Smartmatic News Channel" if only to piss on the corpse of Newsmax and OAN.

Yep, Newsmax and OANN don't have the money buffer that Fox noise did.

[Edge-]

Yep, Newsmax and OANN don't have the money buffer that Fox noise did.

Shame for some of the former Fox hosts who made the jump over there who might soon have to start up an iHeartRadio podcast or hope that they can work their connections with NBC executives to get a contributor spot on TV.

[D Luniz]

Shame for some of the former Fox hosts who made the jump over there who might soon have to start up an iHeartRadio podcast or hope that they can work their connections with NBC executives to get a contributor spot on TV.

I dont think NBC will risk trying that again for a while.