The elections company Dominion Voting Systems filed a lawsuit Friday against Donald Trump’s former attorney, Sidney Powell.
Powell is accused of being one of the loudest amplifiers spreading election fraud conspiracy narratives on the 2020 Presidential election, NPR reports.
Dominion is suing Powell, an attorney who worked for the Trump campaign and spent much of the last two months blaming Dominion for rigging the election and meritlessly saying the company was tied to the Venezuelan regime of Hugo Chavez.
Powell’s claims are baseless and untrue. The company was established in Toronto but now headquartered out of Denver, Colorado. The company’s machines have been used in U.S. elections for over a decade.
Dominion filed its suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and is seeking $1.3 billion in damages. The lawsuit claims that Powell’s “viral disinformation campaign” has ruined the company’s value and some election experts question the fate of its survival after the Trump campaign’s widespread accusations.
The company relies on contracts to stay running. Dominion and other voting companies have to persuade local governments to use its system, which has to be trustworthy. Therefore, allegations that its systems are faulty can cause negative impacts.
To many, the misconceptions about Dominion seem ridiculous. However, it can still make matters complicated for the company if Republican elected officials are at odds about engaging with a tarnished vendor.
Powell’s Twitter account has more than one million followers. The lawsuit consists of 124 pages, and most of it speaks on Powell’s election fraud conspiracies, NPR reports.
“When you run out of gas in this industry, it’s either because you run out of cash or you run out of reputation,” said Joe Kiniry, who runs the voting technology company Free & Fair, during an interview on Dominion last month. “And that’s when things go bankrupt … Or things get acquired.”
Dominion expects to forfeit $200 million in profits over the next five years due to Powell’s allegations.
“We’re filing this lawsuit because 300 families have staked their livelihoods on this company,” said Dominion CEO John Poulos on Friday.
“Words don’t describe the effect. Lives have been upended.”
Among its fear of losing money, the company says it has received harassment and death threats since Powell and other people’s accusations.
“We’re going to blow your f***ing building up,” one person said in a voicemail left on the Dominion main office line, according to the suit. Employee Eric Coomer relocated to an undisclosed location after receiving threats in December.
“I actually am in fear for my safety,” Coomer said. “I’m in fear for my family’s safety. These are real, tangible things coming out of these baseless accusations.”
Coomer is the head of product strategy and security at Dominion and has filed his own lawsuit against several Trump allies. Powell is also named in that case.
Conservative media companies and Donald Trump may also be brought up in future legal actions, Dominion says.
“We have not ruled anyone out,” said Tom Clare, an attorney representing Dominion. “We are looking very deliberately at the statements and actions of everyone.”
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