WASHINGTON (Reuters)-WASHINGTON (Reuters)- Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, asked a judge on Wednesday to dismiss a $1.3 billion defamation suit against a voting machine company in connection with his false claim that presidential elections in November 2020 were rigged.
Giuliani’s counsel said in a court file that the case against Dominion Voting Systems had to be dismissed because of the company’s lack of jurisdiction and because the request for money damages was not properly substantiated.
The submission denies Giuliani the defamation of Dominion, adding that if his legal claim were dismissed by the judge in the Columbia district assigned to the case, the former New York City Mayor would defend him more vigorously on the merits.
“If this matter reaches legal or factual merit judgment, Giuliani will provide a vigorous and thorough response,” the court filing said.
Before his supporters started a deadly assault on the US capital on Jan. 6, Trump and his allies spent two months denying his election loss and arguing without proof that it was a result of widespread electoral fraud.
In his Jan. 25 lawsuit, Dominion, based in Denver, alleged that Giuliani “manufactured and disseminated the ‘Big Lie,’ that foreseeably became viral and led millions to believe that Dominion robbed their votes and fixed the election.”
Dominion said she lodged an action “for the record to be straight” and “for herself, her staff and the electoral process to stand up.”
Founded in 2002, Dominion is a major US voter manufacturer and some Dominion computers were used during the 2020 election in more than two dozen states.
Giuliani said the lawsuit by Dominion was meant to intimidate him from exercising his right to free speech.
Dominion has similar defamation cases pending against former Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell and My Pillow Inc. pro-trump businessman Mike Lindell. Like Giuliani, they denied Dominion defamation.
In its March 22 filing, Powell said that his arguments concerning Dominion were intended to be hyperbolic and that “rational people will consider such statements as facts and only see them as claims which are waiting for the court to examine them in the opposing procedure.”
Giuliani | Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @njtimesofficial. To get latest updates
