Trump adviser Giuliani asks judge to throw out $1.3 billion lawsuit over his election claims

[April 08, 2021]  By Jan Wolfe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani asked a judge on Wednesday to throw out a voting machine company's $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit relating to his claims about the November 2020 presidential election being rigged.

Giuliani's lawyer said in a court filing that Dominion Voting Systems' lawsuit should be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, and because the company has not adequately justified its request for money damages.

The filing said Giuliani denies defaming Dominion, adding that the former New York City mayor would present a more forceful defense on the merits if his jurisdictional arguments are rejected by the federal judge in the District of Columbia who is assigned to the case.

"Should this matter reach legal or factual adjudication on the merits, Giuliani will provide a vigorous and complete response," the court filing stated.

Megan Meier, a lawyer for Dominion, said in a statement that

"Giuliani said he wanted to present the 'evidence' for his defamatory statements about Dominion, but now he's trying to avoid a trial and still offering no evidence at all."

Trump and his allies spent two months denying his election defeat, and claiming without evidence that it was the result of widespread voter fraud, before the then-president's supporters launched a deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

Rudy Giuliani, former New York City Mayor and personal attorney to U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks during a news conference to promote Republican Party candidates in New York City, U.S., September 16, 2020. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Denver-based Dominion alleged in its Jan. 25 lawsuit that Giuliani "manufactured and disseminated the ‘Big Lie,’ which foreseeably went viral and deceived millions of people into believing that Dominion had stolen their votes and fixed the election.”

Dominion said it filed the lawsuit “to set the record straight” and to “stand up for itself, its employees, and the electoral process.”

Founded in 2002, Dominion is a major U.S. manufacturer of voting machines, and various Dominion machines were used in more than two dozen states during the 2020 election.

Dominion has similar defamation lawsuits pending against Fox News, former Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell, and pro-Trump businessman Mike Lindell of My Pillow Inc. Like Giuliani, they have denied defaming Dominion.

(Reporting by Jan Wolfe; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Peter Cooney)

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