Dominion Voting Systems announced Tuesday that it is filing a defamation lawsuit against San Diego's One America News Network for allegedly spreading misinformation suggesting the company's vote-counting machines had a role in rigging the 2020 presidential election.
In a trio of complaints filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., Dominion targets OAN, Newsmax and former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne. The company filed similar defamation suits this year against Fox News, and allies of former President Donald Trump including Trump attorney and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and attorney Sidney Powell.
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Byrne, Giuliani, Lindell and Powell are all referenced in the suit against OAN, with Dominion alleging OAN proliferated falsehoods through interviews with these "discredited figures."
The suit names Herring Networks Inc., Herring owners Robert and Charles Herring, and OAN "personalities" Chanel Rion and Christina Bobb as defendants.
OAN did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the suit.
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"The defendants in today's filings recklessly disregarded the truth when they spread lies in November and continue to do so today," Dominion CEO John Poulos said. "We are filing these three cases today because the defendants named show no remorse, nor any sign they intend to stop spreading disinformation. This barrage of lies by the defendants and others have caused — and continue to cause — severe damage to our company, customers, and employees. We have no choice but to seek to hold those responsible to account."
Dominion says OAN "manufactured, endorsed, repeated, and broadcast a series of verifiably false yet devastating lies about Dominion," including that the company committed election fraud, that its software and algorithms manipulated vote counts, and that it is owned or owns a company founded in Venezuela to rig elections for the late Hugo Chavez.
The company alleges OAN was aware it was lying about its claims, citing a statement from former OAN producer Marty Golingan, who was quoted in a New York Times article in which he said the majority of OAN employees did not believe the voter fraud claims that ran on the channel.
Golingan was fired one day after the New York Times story was published, according to Dominion's complaint.
Dominion legal counsel Stephen Shackelford said the defendants "have knowingly and continuously sold the false story of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election, with Dominion cast as the villain, severely injuring Dominion in the process ... We are suing to set the record straight, to vindicate Dominion's rights, to hold the defendants accountable, and to recover damages for the devastating economic harm done to Dominion's business."
