Washington – Attorneys for Conservative Attorney Sidney Powell told a federal court on Monday that “no reasonable person” would conclude that her baseless claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election were factual statements as she filed a $ 1.3 billion defamation lawsuit against Dominion Voting Systems challenge.
In an application to federal district court in the District of Columbia, Powell stated that Dominion’s case against her should be dismissed because “it was clear to reasonable persons” that her statements were her own views and legal theories. Members of the public, she said, were free to come to their own conclusions about whether Dominion was faking elections against former President Donald Trump, as Powell repeatedly claimed.
To determine whether an assertion is protected, a two-step investigation must be conducted: is the assertion true or can it be proven false? And would reasonable people conclude that the allegation is fact, in light of the wording, context and circumstances of its publication, ‘her lawyers told the court. “Analyzed under these factors, and even assuming that all of the claims in the complaint could be proven true or false, no reasonable person could conclude that the claims were actually statements of fact.”
Powell further argued that her statements are constitutionally protected, in part because they were made in the context of bitter political debate, and political statements are prone to exaggeration and exaggeration.
The 2020 presidential race, her lawyers said, “was both bitter and controversial,” and Powell made her statements “as attorney-at-law for her preferred candidate and in support of her legal and political positions.”
“Such characterizations of the allegedly defamatory statements support the defendants’ position that reasonable people would not accept such statements as fact, but only see them as allegations awaiting review by the courts through the adversarial process,” she added. adding “the disputed speech. No action can be taken here.”
In addition to asking the court to dismiss the case, Powell argued that the lawsuit should not have been filed in the District of Columbia, but rather in the Northern District of Texas, since she lives in Dallas. If the court decides not to eject the series, Powell called for a move to Texas.
Dominion, which supplies electronic voting machines and software to governments and the US and worldwide, filed its defamation lawsuit against Powell in January, seeking $ 1.3 billion in damages. Powell spread conspiracy theories in the aftermath of the November election that Dominion was involved in a broad plan to manipulate the presidential election, claims reinforced by Mr. Trump as he fought unsuccessfully for a second term.
Dominion argued that Powell had caused “unprecedented harm” to the company by her repeated allegations that it bribed officials, conspired against Mr Trump and reversed the votes cast for the former president to boost President Biden. His employees, Dominion argued, were the subject of harassment and threats as Powell’s allegations spread among far-right conspiracy theorists.
In addition to Powell, Dominion has filed defamation cases against MyPillow founder and CEO Mike Lindell and Mr. Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, who also spread groundless allegations of voter fraud, claiming the company had faked the election.