Attorneys for lawyer Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani, and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell argued Thursday during a federal district court in the District of Columbia that a defamation lawsuit filed by elections technology firm Dominion Voting Systems should be thrown out.
They argued that Dominion acted in a government capacity during the last election by providing counties with election software. As a result, their lawyers said the firm has to prove Powell and Lindell acted with malice when they made claims against the company after the Nov. 3 election, citing previous court cases that barred public officials from filing lawsuits against individuals who criticized them.
“If you are criticizing the government … that is not actionable,” Doug Daniels, an attorney for Lindell, said in court on Thursday, adding the company should be classified as a government entity “because they’re administering the election.”
But Tom Clare, Dominion’s attorney who filed billion-dollar lawsuits against the three, disagreed with that argument.
“They’re trying to tag us falsely with the label of a government actor,” Clare said, reported USA Today. “Dominion doesn’t administer elections. Election officials do using the tools made by Dominion … That is a critical distinction.”
Powell, Lindell, and several top Dominion officials appeared in the federal court. Giuliani did not but was represented by his lawyer, Joseph Sibley.
Giuliani, Powell, and Lindell previously have filed motions asking a judge to toss Dominion’s suits against them, which the company has opposed.
“We are excited to see this process move forward to hold people accountable and defend Dominion’s good name,” said Dominion in a statement to The Epoch Times about Thursday’s hearing.
Powell’s attorney, Howard Kleinhendler, also asserted Thursday she is protected and didn’t act with malice because she used witness affidavits that were submitted in court. And lawyers for Powell and Lindell, meanwhile, argued that MyPillow and a fundraising website used by Powell shouldn’t be able to be sued in Washington.
Furthermore, according to Kleinhendler, when Powell made public statements about the election, she used information from experts and they weren’t making allegations “out of thin air.”
