Giuliani slams ‘hate-filled left-wing’ as he responds to $1.3bn defamation lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems

Donald Trump’s personal lawyer claims legal action is intended to ‘frighten people of faint heart’

Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani has described a $1.3bn (£1.15bn) defamation lawsuit filed against him by Dominion Voting Systems as “intimidation by the hate-filled left-wing”.

Dominion filed a defamation lawsuit against Mr Giuliani on Monday, following months of baseless claims from the former mayor of New York City that the company’s systems were rigged in favour of the Democrats in 3 November’s presidential election.

The 107-page lawsuit, which was filed by the company in the Federal District Court in Washington, DC, on Monday, accused Mr Giuliani of carrying out “a viral disinformation campaign about Dominion” that was made up of “demonstrably false” allegations, according to The New York Times.

The suit is seeking damages of more than $1.3bn (£1.15bn) and is based on more than 50 statements made by Mr Giuliani on Twitter, his podcast and in the media.

In those statements, Mr Giuliani claimed that Dominion, which is one of the biggest voting machine manufacturers in the US, rigged its systems to flip votes from Mr Trump to then Democratic candidate Joe Biden.

Mr Giuliani filed around 50 lawsuits in several swing states as he led the effort by the Trump campaign to overturn the election results, and made several false comments on social media and on TV about Dominion.

In one statement on Twitter, Mr Giuliani said that “phoney Dominion voting machines” needed to be investigated, while as recently as last week, he said on his radio show on WABC that he has “boxes of evidence to support his claims,” adding: “So long as you have Dominion, there is clear and present danger.” 

However, in the lawsuit, Dominion notes that Mr Giuliani did not mention the company in any of his court filings, where he could have faced legal ramifications for making false claims.

“Notably, not a single one of the three complaints signed and filed by Giuliani and other attorneys for the Trump Campaign in the Pennsylvania action contained any allegations about Dominion,” the lawsuit filed on Monday said.

Responding to the lawsuit in a statement to WABC, Mr Giuliani said: “Dominion’s defamation lawsuit for $1.3bn will allow me to investigate their history, finances, and practices fully and completely.

“The amount being asked for is, quite obviously, intended to frighten people of faint heart. It is another act of intimidation by the hate-filled left-wing to wipe out and censor the exercise of free speech, as well as the ability of lawyers to defend their clients vigorously.”

He added: “As such, we will investigate a countersuit against them for violating these Constitutional rights.”

Last week, Dominion sent a cease-and-desist letter to MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell after he repeatedly supported Mr Trump and Mr Giuliani’s false claims, and Thomas A Clare, a lawyer representing Dominion, suggested to the New York Times on Monday that more lawsuits will be filed soon.

“There will certainly be others,” he said. “There are other individuals who have spoken the big lie and have put forward these defamatory statements about Dominion, but then there are also players in the media that have amplified it.”

Mr Clare also refused to rule out filing a lawsuit against Mr Trump, adding: “Obviously, this lawsuit against the president’s lawyer moves one step closer to the former president and understanding what his role was and wasn’t.”

The Independent has contacted Mr Giuliani for comment.