“Dominion brings this action to set the record straight, to vindicate the company’s rights under civil law, to recover compensatory and punitive damages, and to stand up for itself, its employees, and the electoral process,” Dominion’s lawsuit against Giuliani said.
Dominion Voting Systems has announced that it will settle a defamation lawsuit filed against Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor and prominent Trump ally who helped spread baseless conspiracy theories claiming that the 2020 election had been rigged in Joe Biden’s favor.
According to CBS News, attorneys for both Dominion and Giuliani filed documents in a Washington, D.C., federal court indicating that they had reached an agreement. If approved, the petition would end Dominion’s lawsuit, with the terms of the settlement to remain confidential for the foreseeable future.
“The Parties have agreed to a confidential settlement to this matter,” an attorney for Dominion told CBS News in a statement.
Friday’s filings do not specify how much, if anything, Giuliani will pay Dominion.
“Each party shall bear its own attorneys’ fees, expenses, and costs,” the filing states.
In its initial complaint, Dominion had sought upward of $1 billion in damages.
The Guardian notes that this is the third successful lawsuit filed by Dominion against conservatives involved in the spread of election-related conspiracy theories. In 2023, for instance, Fox News agreed to pay Dominion about $787.5 million for airing unproven claims.
Some of these claims were overtly outlandish and patently ludicrous: on-air, Fox News hosts repeatedly speculated that Dominion, along with other election technology companies, had helped the Venezuelan government fabricate its own election results.
More recently, in August, right-wing outlet Newsmax agreed to pay $67 million to Dominion in a separate-but-related defamation claim. Newsmax, like Fox, admitted no wrongdoing, instead insisting that it simply reported on important matters of public interest and debate.
Giuliani, who served as President Donald Trump’s personal attorney before and during the 2020 election cycle, repeated many of the same election-rigging claims across multiple platforms, including television shows, podcasts, and radio interviews.
“Dominion brings this action to set the record straight, to vindicate the company’s rights under civil law, to recover compensatory and punitive damages, and to stand up for itself, its employees, and the electoral process,” Dominion’s lawsuit against Giuliani said.
Giuliani previously defended himself by saying that he had been “exercising my right of free speech and defending [Donald Trump].” His approach does not appear to have succeeded, at least in terms of personal and professional reputations. In 2024, Giuliani lost his license to practice law in New York; three months later, he was formally disbarred in Washington, D.C. for failing to respond to a court-order demanding an explanation.
None of Giuliani’s election-related conspiracy theories have ever been substantiated; there remains no evidence at all indicating that they were, are, or even could be true.
Sources
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