American voting machines manufacturer Dominion has sued Rudy Giuliani for defamation over alleged false claims made during the 2020 United States Presidential election.
Dominion Voting Systems has claimed $1.3 billion (€1.07 billion) in damages against the former Mayor of New York City and personal lawyer to former US President Donald Trump.
Throughout the campaign, Trump, Giuliani, and other close allies repeated allegations that Dominion machines had “switched votes” of that there were issues with the company’s software.
Dominion has always categorically denied the allegations.
Meanwhile, in a recorded transcript, the general counsel for the Secretary of State for Georgia, Ryan Germany, firmly denied to Trump that Dominion had replaced any parts of their voting machines.
In the 107-page claim to a federal court in Washington, Dominion says Giuliani “manufactured and disseminated” false conspiracy theories that have damaged the company’s reputation and endangered its employees.
“Giuliani launched a viral disinformation campaign about Dominion that reached millions of people and caused enormous harm to Dominion,” the lawsuit said.
“Dominion’s founder and employees have been harassed and received death threats, and Dominion has suffered unprecedented and irreparable harm.”
Dominion Voting Systems described Giuliani as one of the main voices behind the claim that ballots had been rigged in favour of Democrat Joe Biden.
The company also claims that its contracts with nearly 30 states and hundreds of American counties “are under threat” and estimate that they could lose around $200 million (over €164 million) in profits over the next five years.
Giuliani has stood by the false claims and has repeated the allegations at public appearances and on social media.
Giuliani is the second Trump loyalist to face litigation from the company after pushing the claims of election fraud, after another of Trump’s lawyers, Sidney Powell.