Hearing Set To Begin In Defamation Lawsuit Filed By Former Dominion Voting Employee Against Trump Campaign
DENVER (CBS4)- An important two-day hearing begins Wednesday in Denver District Court in a case that has been drawing national attention. It is a defamation lawsuit filed by a former employee of Dominion Voting Systems against the Trump for President Campaign, lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, conservative news organizations and others.
With its U.S. base in Denver, Dominion Voting has been the target of claims that it was involved in election fraud, which it has denied and challenged in lawsuits.
In particular, the vitriol has been directed at now-former Denver employee Eric Coomer quoted as saying, "Don't worry Trump's not going to win. I made f...ing sure about it."
That quote comes from Joe Oltmann of Parker who says he overheard it on a left-wing group's call.
He told CBS4's Rick Sallinger, "I'm not afraid of this lawsuit. I never lied about anything. I lied about nothing."
The former president's son, Eric Trump, republished the quote on social media. Other media picked it up including the Gateway Pundit represented in the suit by attorney Randy Corporan.
"Frankly, I think this is an effort to silence speech and silence the ability to challenge what went on in the 2020 election," he said.
CBS4 legal analyst Raj Chohan observed, "Defamation suits are notoriously difficult to win, but in this case, there's evidence that seems to show the inner circles of the Trump campaign knew these statements were false."
Coomer and Dominion have repeatedly denied even having the capability to impact the election. Oltmann says, in effect, bring it on.
"There's no defamation. Truth is a great equalizer."
Oltmann points out previous anti-Trump posts on Coomer's Facebook account. Coomer acknowledges he posted them for private viewing. Coomer has been and out of hiding due to death threats since the claim was first made that he may have played a role in the election outcome.
The defendants are asking that the lawsuit be dismissed under what are called "Anti Slapp" laws which are meant to stop people from using the courts to intimidate people who are using their First Amendment rights.
