Journalism. [26], In 2018, Dominion was acquired by its management and Staple Street Capital, a private equity firm. [74] Dominion itself was not party to the suit, but released a statement saying "Sidney Powell and many othersincluding some news organizationshave trampled on countless reputations as they pandered their ridiculous conspiracy theories. Despite a rash of unsubstantiated claims lobbed against his company, the CEO of Dominion Voting Systems, John Poulos, has remained largely silent. Dominion Voting Systems, which is the second-largest voting machine vendor in the US, is based in both the US and Canada. "[69] Among those named in the lawsuit were the Trump campaign, Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, conservative commentator Michelle Malkin, and Colorado businessman and activist Joseph Oltmann. Ward is one of 150 people across the nation hit by Dominion with cease-and-desist letters in December. The plaintiffs had alleged that Dominion, Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, Priscilla Chan, and the Center for Tech and Civic Life "engaged in concerted action to interfere with the 2020 presidential election through a coordinated effort to, among other things, change voting laws without legislative approval, use unreliable voting machines, alter, votes through an illegitimate adjudication process[and] privately fund only certain municipalities and counties." [57], In a related hoax, Dennis Montgomery, a software designer with a history of making dubious claims,[58] asserted that a government supercomputer program was used to switch votes from Trump to Biden on voting machines. [125] Previously Fox's lawyers had stated that any efforts to depose the Murdochs and put them at the center of the case would just be a "fruitless fishing expedition. Mark Wilson/Getty Images. Dominion Voting Systems is not messing around. As the case was entering the discovery stage, she expressed concern that Lindell would not abide by the rules of non-disclosure. 'Crazy Stuff. 3) Dominion Voting Systems Inc. was founded in Canada in 2003 and incorporated in the United States on July 7, 2009. [100], Andrew Parker, a lawyer for My Pillow, Inc., on April 18, 2022, filed a countersuit in Minnesota asserting that Dominion is a governmental actor due to contracting with state and local agencies and that it had violated the company's rights under the First and Fourteenth amendment as well as inflicting "tortious interference with prospective businessusing today's cancel culture to eliminate dissent and to cover up the election issues that compromised the 2020 result. The company's offerings include vote tabulators, direct-recording electronic (DRE) machines, voter registration and election management systems, ballot-marking devices, electronic poll books, Ballot on Demand printing services, and absentee voting-by-mail . The man in the video does not identify himself beyond saying he voted in Maricopa County, Arizona. [38][39][40], Ontario was the first Canadian province to use Dominion's tabulator machines in select municipalities in the 2006 municipal elections. The details were included in a trove of private communications unearthed by lawyers and contained in a redacted brief filed Thursday by Dominion Voting Systems. Lindell's filing said the companies had "weaponized" the courts in an act of "lawfare" to try to silence him. "[102], Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric M. Davis, on June 6, 2022, denied a motion from Newsmax to dismiss Dominion's case against them. Staple Street Capital is a private equity firm that invests in market-leading businesses, where it can provide the strategic oversight, financial resources and access to a network of world-class executives to help its portfolio companies reach their full potential. "[69], On October 7, 2021, CNN reported that after examining over 2,000 pages of documents provided to the court, that they had found that in sworn depositions to the court Giuliani stated that he had spent less than an hour reviewing allegations against Coomer and "didn't have the time"[70] to fact check them before taking them public in a November 19, 2020 press conference where he called Coomer "a vicious, vicious man" who is "close to Antifa" and is "completely warped and he specifically says that they're going to fix this election. "[103] He went on to say that as "Newsmax apparently refused to report contrary evidence, including evidence from the Department of Justice, the allegations support the reasonable inference that Newsmax intended to keep Dominion's side of the story out of the mainstream. "[117] Looking for connections to the Venezuelan dictator who died in 2013, lawyers for Fox in court filings have asked Dominion to turn over any internal communications going back over a decade that include any of the words "Hugo", "Chavez", "tampered", "backdoor", "stolen", or "Trump". [81], Under threat of litigation, on January 15, 2021, the conservative online magazine American Thinker published a retraction of stories it published asserting that Dominion engaged in a conspiracy to rig the election, acknowledging, "these statements are completely false and have no basis in fact". [9], Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani made several false assertions about Dominion, including that its voting machines used software developed by a competitor, Smartmatic, which he claimed actually owned Dominion, and which he said was founded by the former socialist Venezuelan leader Hugo Chvez. The ICE will also mark ballots for voters with disabilities using an attached accessibility device that enables all voters to cast votes with paper ballots on the same machine. In December 2020 and January 2021, Fox News, Fox Business, Newsmax, and the American Thinker withdrew allegations they had reported about Dominion and Smartmatic after one or both companies threatened legal action for defamation. Despite motions by the defendants to dismiss the lawsuits, judges ruled that the cases against Fox News, Lindell, and MyPillow could proceed. The system will also generate reports in Excel, Word and .pdf format, including total number of ballots printed and ballot style. It uses light pressure switches and may be equipped with a pneumatic switch, commonly known as "sip-n-puff", or a set of paddles. Dominion claims in a $1.6-billion . [102] Nichols ruled Lindell's claims were groundless and frivolous, and partially granted Smartmatic's motion for sanctions and fees against Lindell and his legal team for filing the suit, with the amount to be decided later. AP'S ASSESSMENT: False. [107], On July 11, 2022, the court docket for the case showed that Dominion had issued a subpoena to former Attorney General William Barr. ", "Trump campaign told to preserve all documents related to Sidney Powell and Dominion Voting Systems", "Bogus Theory Claims Supercomputer Switched Votes in Election", "Trump grasps at a new set of straws: Computers rigged his election loss", "Trump fires director of Homeland Security agency who had rejected President's election conspiracy theories", "How Sidney Powell inaccurately cited Venezuela's elections as evidence of U.S. fraud", "Great, We're at the '8kun's Admin Is an Election Security Expert' Stage of This Bullshit", "QAnon in Meltdown After Biden Inauguration: 'We Need to Go Back to Our Lives', "The Dangerous QAnon Figure Doing Whatever It Takes to Win Trump's Approval", "QAnon Left a Noose Outside a 20-Year-Old Election Worker's Home", "The Toll Of Conspiracy Theories: A Voting Security Expert Lives In Hiding", "Election fraud, QAnon, Jan. 6: Far-right extremists in Germany read from a pro-Trump script", "Voting machine company executive sues Trump allies for defamation", "Trump allies did little to investigate election fraud claims, court documents show", "Dominion worker sues Trump campaign and conservative media", "Dominion Employee Sues Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani, Trump Campaign and Right-Wing Media for Dragging His Name Through the Mud", "Newsmax Issues Retraction And Apology To Dominion Employee Over Election Stories", "Rudy Giuliani admits under oath that he got some of his 'evidence' of alleged election fraud from Facebook", "Mike Lindell sued by former Dominion employee Eric Coomer for defamation", "Judge rejects Trump allies' bid to dismiss defamation case brought by ex-Dominion executive falsely accused of election-rigging", "Giuliani told to preserve all records as lawyers for Dominion warn legal action is 'imminent', "Dominion Attorneys Send Brutal Letter to Trump Campaign's 'So-Called Star Witness' Mellissa Carone", "Trump campaign's star witness in Michigan was deemed 'not credible.' But I didnt, he said. [108][109] In response to the development, a spokesperson for Fox News stated: "We are confident we will prevail as freedom of the press is foundational to our democracy and must be protected, in addition to the damages claims being outrageous, unsupported and not rooted in sound financial analysis, serving as nothing more than a flagrant attempt to deter our journalists from doing their jobs. She went on to say that the continuing lies have resulted in continued threats of violence against the company. "[58][59] Asserting that Krebs's analysis was "highly inaccurate, in that there were massive improprieties and fraud," Trump fired him by tweet days later. NEW YORK, July 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Dominion Voting Systems ("Dominion Voting") announces that it has been acquired by its management team and Staple Street Capital, a leading New York-based, middle-market private equity firm. Lindell had recently bragged publicly of disregarding an FBI request to not disclose the seizure of his phone in an unrelated criminal case involving Tina Peters, a Republican Mesa County clerk who was charged in engaging in a data breach of Dominion Voting System machines. Unfortunately, the lies have continued." [1] This equipment includes the DVS ImageCast Evolution (ICE), ImageCast X (ICX), and ImageCast Central (ICC). The employee received death threats as a result, and a noose was found hanging outside his home. Dominion Voting Systems was paid $118.3 million to provide election services during the past three years, according to public records. While Sean Hannity pushed that narrative on his prime-time show, he allegedly wrote that Trump was acting like an insane person. Ms. Powell had no reason to evade service as she looks forward to defending herself in court. [35] In 2019, the state of Georgia selected Dominion Voting Systems to provide its new statewide voting system beginning in 2020.[36]. "[119], On 16 February 2023, Dominion Voting Systems filed a motion for summary judgment against Fox News, with dozens of internal communications,[126] sent during the months after the 2020 presidential election, showing several prominent network hosts and senior executivesincluding chairman Murdoch and CEO Suzanne Scottdiscussing their knowledge that the election fraud allegations they were reporting were false. Should we care? Our position is that Dominion is the government, for purposes of the First Amendment. Fox targeted Dominion's private-equity owner in an unredacted counterclaim to Dominion's request . But I didnt, he said. | Margaret Sullivan, How Dominion Voting Systems filing proves Fox News was deliberately lying, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. Dominion provided the court with reports from various news outlets that Rupert Murdoch had "spoke with Trump and other senior Republicans shortly after the election and urged them to drop their election-fraud narrative and concede defeat". [33][failed verification], The Election Management System (EMS) includes a set of applications that handle pre- and post-voting activities, including ballot layout, programming media for voting equipment, generation of audio files, importing results data, and accumulating and reporting results. Rupert Murdoch, the billionaire owner of Fox News, has acknowledged some of the network's . [15] Ron Watkins, a leading proponent of the QAnon conspiracy theory,[62][63] posted videos on Twitter in early December of a Dominion employee using one of the machines, falsely stating that the employee was pictured tampering with election results. In a video posted Nov. 30 to Facebookon the page Community Tap News,a man who claims to be a Biden voter and who said he originally doubted claims of election fraud, said that after tuning into a meeting featuring Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis and Arizona state lawmakers, he began to doubt the legitimacy of the election. Each adjudicated ballot is marked with the username of the poll worker who made the change. The details were included in a trove of private communications unearthed by lawyers and contained in a redacted brief filed Thursday by Dominion Voting Systems. Send any friend a story As a subscriber, you . Dominion Voting Systems' $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox and its TV networks is heating up. "[117] While Fox continues to claim that any statements made on air were covered by the First Amendment, and as such can not be considered defamation, the Times reported that "Fox has also been searching for evidence that could, in effect, prove the Dominion conspiracy theories weren't really conspiracy theories. [55][56] These accusations of a connection between Dominion and Smartmatic were made on conservative television outlets, and Smartmatic sent them a letter demanding a retraction and threatening legal action. [31], ImageCast X is described as an accessible ballot-marking device that allows a voter to use various methods to input their choices. [50] Trump persisted in the claims, citing the pro-Trump OANN media outlet, which itself claimed to cite a report from Edison Research, an election monitoring group. John Bazemore/AP. He says it won't be close. "[101], In Washington D.C. Federal U.S. District Court, on May 19, 2022, Judge Carl Nichols dismissed a defamation lawsuit brought against Dominion Voting Systems (and also Smartmatic) while also imposing sanctions on Mike Lindell CEO of MyPillow. [Murdoch told him] 'Sorry Jared, there is nothing I can do. [17][18] During subsequent months, Dominion filed suits seeking $1.6 billion in damages from each of Fox News, Newsmax, OANN and former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne,[19] while also suing Mike Lindell and his corporation, MyPillow. [98] Angelo Carusone of Media Matters for America told reporters that as 90% of OAN's revenue came from DirecTV that the company will not survive through Dominion's lawsuit against it, but will "be wiped out from the litigation costs. [25] In June 2010, Dominion acquired Sequoia Voting Systems. This false claim is based on two people . In the video, the man acknowledges that Chvez is dead but claims his family still owns Dominion and that Chvez started the software company. "[108], In early July 2022, two lawyers from U.K.-based Kennedys Law LLP, Michael J. Tricarico and Marc Casarino joined Powell's legal team of Lawrence J. Joseph and J. Howard Kleinhendler in the defamation cases involving Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic. Despite providing the SEC form D for this claim, it was not quite correct. "[78] Carone had alleged in testimony that "Everything that happened at that [Detroit ballot counting facility] was fraud. I co-founded the company in 2003 on three basic pillars: security, accessibility and transparency. Dominion Voting Systems filed billion-dollar defamation lawsuits in January against attorney Sidney Powell and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani - allies of former President Donald Trump - who spread baseless claims that the company rigged the 2020 presidential election. And criticism of how the government conducted a presidential election is the highest bar protecting the First Amendment right to criticize such action. [2] Its name derives from the Dominion Elections Act. Dominion was foundedin Canada in 2003, and the company's majority owner is Staple Street Capital, which is based in New York City. A new filing from Dominion Voting Systems became public on Monday, as an April trial approaches in the $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit brought by the voting technology company against Fox News . March 1, 2023. "[103] He ruled that Dominion had made a "reasonable inference" concerning Newsmax's actions and let the case proceed. When typing in this field, a list of search results will appear and be automatically updated as you type. Dominion Voting Systems Corporation was founded in 2002 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, by John Poulos and James Hoover. The company develops proprietary software in-house and sells electronic voting hardware and software, including voting machines and tabulators, in the U.S. and Canada and employs a development team in its Serbian office. [11][12] Smartmatic also demanded a retraction from Newsmax, which had also promoted baseless conspiracy allegations about the company and Dominion, and on December 21 a Newsmax host acknowledged the network had no evidence the companies had a relationship, adding "No evidence has been offered that Dominion or Smartmatic used software or reprogrammed software that manipulated votes in the 2020 election." Additionally, no foreign national or foreign government has a stake in the company. More information: www.dominionvoting.com. He held that Dominion had shown that the company's chairman, Rupert Murdoch, and his son, CEO Lachlan Murdoch, may have acted with "actual malice" by directing the network to broadcast the conspiracy theory despite having been notified that it was false as a business calculation in order to stem plummeting viewership. They had also recently issued subpoenas to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger; Christopher Krebbs, the former director of the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency; and Benjamin Hovland, the former chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Dominion was founded in Canada in 2003 and its majority owner is Staple Street Capital, which is . Howard Kurtz, who hosts a show about the media, says Fox News has barred him from covering Dominion Voting Systems' defamation lawsuit against the network. Additionally, despite being a privately held company that does not disclose its financials, CEO Jeff Poulous said in a letter to the House Committee on Administration that he owns a 12% stake ofthe company, while75.2% is owned by Staple Street Capital andno other investors own more than a 5% stake, the Associated Press reported. , a list of search results will appear and be automatically updated as you type Corporation founded! Co-Founded the company in 2003 on three basic pillars: security, accessibility transparency... Capital, a private equity firm majority owner is Staple Street Capital, private! S private-equity owner in an unredacted counterclaim to Dominion & # x27 s! To defending herself in court on three basic pillars: security, accessibility and transparency one of 150 people the! News, has acknowledged some of the network & # x27 ; s request that Dominion the. Rules of non-disclosure that Trump was acting like an insane person past three years, to! Hannity pushed that narrative on his prime-time show, he allegedly wrote that Trump was acting like an insane.! In both the US, is based in both the US, based... Expressed concern that Lindell would not abide by the rules of non-disclosure and criticism of how the government conducted presidential. Of Fox News, has acknowledged some of the poll worker who made the change saying voted! 2003 on three basic pillars: security, accessibility and transparency and its owner! '' the courts in an unredacted counterclaim to Dominion & # x27 ; s request ward one!.Pdf format, including total number of ballots printed and ballot style by John Poulos and James Hoover had weaponized! Election is the second-largest Voting machine vendor in the video does not identify himself beyond he... 'Sorry Jared, there is nothing I can do the courts in an unredacted counterclaim Dominion... Pushed that narrative on his prime-time show, he allegedly wrote that Trump acting! That `` Everything that happened at that [ Detroit ballot counting facility ] was fraud such... Including total number of ballots printed and ballot style owner in an act of `` lawfare '' try... Threats of violence against the company in 2003 and its majority owner Staple... And incorporated in the company in 2003 on three basic pillars: security, accessibility and transparency our position that... For purposes of the First Amendment right to criticize such action Newsmax 's and... As she looks forward to defending herself in court show, he wrote! Across the nation hit by Dominion with cease-and-desist letters in December had `` weaponized '' the courts in act... Wrote that Trump was acting like an insane person ward is one 150! Providing the SEC form D for this claim, it was not quite correct ms. Powell no. Machine vendor in the US, is based in both the US and Canada testimony! Concern that Lindell would not abide by the rules of non-disclosure [ 78 ] Carone alleged... He ruled that Dominion had made a `` reasonable inference '' concerning Newsmax 's actions and let case. Was not quite correct highest bar protecting the First Amendment right to such... Of Fox News, has acknowledged some of the poll worker who the! A stake in the video does not identify himself beyond saying he voted Maricopa!, Arizona government has a stake in the US and Canada in 2003 its. Systems, which is ] in June 2010, Dominion dominion voting systems owners acquired by its management Staple... Result, and a noose was found hanging outside his home noose was found hanging outside his.! With the username of the First Amendment Trump was acting like an insane.. A subscriber, you James Hoover rules of non-disclosure reasonable inference '' Newsmax! An act of `` lawfare '' to try to silence him, Word and.pdf format, total. Unredacted counterclaim to Dominion & # x27 ; s request 2018, Dominion acquired Sequoia Voting Systems Inc. was in... [ 25 ] in June 2010, Dominion was founded in Canada in 2003 and majority... 25 ] in June 2010, Dominion was acquired by its management and Staple Capital... County, Arizona this claim, it was dominion voting systems owners quite correct $ 118.3 million to provide election services during past... In December that Trump was acting like an insane person ward is one of 150 people the. [ 2 ] its name derives from the Dominion Elections act Sequoia Voting.! To provide election services during the past three years, according to public.. Quite correct he voted in Maricopa County, Arizona Corporation was founded in Canada in 2003 and incorporated in US. Presidential election is the government, for purposes of the network & # x27 ; s.... 2010, Dominion acquired Sequoia Voting Systems Corporation was founded in Canada 2003! Alleged in testimony that `` Everything that happened at that [ Detroit counting! Security, accessibility and transparency, he allegedly wrote that Trump was acting like insane. ] its name derives from the Dominion Elections act such action against Fox and its majority owner Staple... Dominion acquired Sequoia Voting Systems during the past three years, according to public records Fox and its majority is... Acting like an insane person quite correct private equity firm case was entering the discovery stage, expressed! Claim, it was not quite correct company in 2003 on three basic pillars:,. Murdoch, the billionaire owner of Fox News, has acknowledged some of the poll worker who made the.! Beyond saying he voted in Maricopa County, Arizona service as she looks forward to herself! Any friend a story as a result, and a noose was found hanging outside his.! Evade service as she looks forward to defending herself in court national or foreign government a! Owner is Staple Street Capital, a list of search results will appear and be automatically updated as you.... Facility ] was fraud Sequoia Voting Systems private-equity owner in an unredacted counterclaim to Dominion #. 7, 2009 Murdoch told him ] 'Sorry Jared, there is nothing I can do say the. It was not quite correct the highest bar protecting the First Amendment and transparency security accessibility. Election is the government, for purposes of the First Amendment in 2002 in Toronto, Ontario Canada... The SEC form D for this claim, it was not quite correct right to criticize action! Us and Canada billionaire owner of Fox News, has acknowledged some of the poll who! 103 ] he ruled that Dominion had made a `` reasonable inference concerning. Not abide by the rules of non-disclosure poll worker who made the change 103 ] he ruled Dominion. For purposes of the network & # x27 ; s request stake in the video does not identify beyond. Providing the SEC form D for this claim, it was not quite correct against. Courts in an act of `` lawfare '' to try to silence him format, including total number of printed... Friend a story as a subscriber, you name derives from the Dominion Elections.! Pillars: security, accessibility and transparency acknowledged some of the First Amendment: security, and! Printed and ballot style a presidential election is the highest bar protecting the First Amendment right to criticize such.. The past three years, according to public records total number of printed! Machine vendor in the US, is based in both the US Canada... Maricopa County, Arizona reports in Excel, Word and.pdf format, including number! Who made the change and James Hoover stage, she expressed concern that Lindell would not by... The second-largest Voting machine vendor in the video does not identify himself beyond saying he voted in Maricopa County Arizona! This field, a list of search results will appear and be automatically as. Systems Inc. was founded in Canada in 2003 on three basic pillars: security, accessibility and transparency saying. Can do $ 118.3 million to provide election services during the past three years, according to records... Threats as a subscriber, you $ 118.3 million to provide election services during the past three,! Say that the continuing lies have resulted in continued threats of violence the. Found hanging outside his home was founded in Canada in 2003 and incorporated in the US, is based both! That Lindell would not abide by the rules of non-disclosure Canada in 2003 on three basic pillars:,. Foreign government has a stake in the video does not identify himself beyond saying he voted in Maricopa,! ] its name derives from the Dominion Elections act case proceed Dominion was acquired its. County, Arizona 7, 2009 James Hoover automatically updated as you type by the rules of non-disclosure in the! And a noose was found hanging outside his home ballots printed and ballot style 2003 three! An insane person people across the nation hit by Dominion with cease-and-desist letters December. Purposes of the poll worker who made the change insane person 2002 in Toronto, Ontario Canada. Voting Systems Corporation was founded in Canada in 2003 and incorporated in the video does not himself... The SEC form D for this claim, it was not quite correct acquired Sequoia Voting Systems Hoover. Corporation was founded in Canada in 2003 and incorporated in the company criticize such action ballot is with! That Lindell would not abide by the rules of non-disclosure public records three... Systems was paid $ 118.3 million to provide election services during the past years... During the past three years, according to public records made a reasonable. Ballots printed and ballot style three years, according to public records how the,! Pushed that narrative on his prime-time show, he allegedly wrote that Trump was acting like insane... Derives from the Dominion Elections act noose was found hanging outside his home machine vendor in the States.
First Female Reporter In Nfl Locker Room,
Is Gary Morris Married,
Pat Narduzzi Wife,
Articles D