Plaintiffs themselves characterize the statements at issue as 'wild accusations' and 'outlandish claims'. "I certainly did.". The source of the nations voting machines has become an urgent issue because of real fears that hackers, whether foreign or domestic, might tamper with the mechanics of the voting system. "I dialed Rupert Murdoch and asked why Fox News had made the Arizona call before hundreds of thousands of votes were tallied. "The voting machine lobby, led by the biggest company, ES&S, believes they are above the law, said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a member of the Intelligence Committee who co-signed the letter. [27][28], Poulos, President and CEO of Dominion, has a BSc in electrical engineering from the University of Toronto and an MBA from INSEAD. 5.5.3.0002. See more stories on Insider's business page. Speaker Nancy Pelosi has tapped Terri McCullough to be her new chief of staff in the speaker's office, the first woman in modern times to serve in the . Senior Vice President of Government Relations Kathy Rogers and Vice President of Systems Security Chris Wlaschin. Company profile page for Dominion Voting Systems Corp including stock price, company news, press releases, executives, board members, and contact information Pinned Tweet. In mid-December 2020, Perez appeared on Fox as an expert for an awkward segment in which he was interviewed by an off-camera producer to debunk claims made on the network about a second voting technology company called Smartmatic. [94], On August 10, 2021, Dominion announced that they were suing conservative news channels OANN and Newsmax, plus former Overstock.com CEO Patrick M. Because it is privately owned, ES&S is not legally obligated to reveal its ownership or any other details about its finances, although Burt did confirm that the company generated about $100 million in sales last year. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. The defamation suit against Mr. Giuliani seeks more than $1.3 billion in damages. Denied 1/24/2020 (PDF) ADJ - Adjudication. She went on to say that the continuing lies have resulted in continued threats of violence against the company. [122][123], On December 5, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up a case, Kevin ORourke, et al., v. Dominion Voting Systems, Inc., et al., rejected by lower courts. After losing the 2020 presidential election, which wascertified by the Electoral Collegeon Dec. 14, outgoing President Donald Trump has waged a campaign of disinformation about election interference and voter fraud. The communications showed the network was concerned that not reporting the falsehoods would alienate viewers and cause them to switch to rival conservative networks, impacting corporate profitability. [66] In one of their lawsuits, Dominion explained they had spent $565,000 on security as a result. He held that Dominion had shown that the company's chairman, Rupert Murdoch, and his son, CEO Lachlan Murdoch, may have acted with "actual malice" by directing the network to broadcast the conspiracy theory despite having been notified that it was false as a business calculation in order to stem plummeting viewership. "[71][69][72] In April 2021, Newsmax published a retraction and apology on its website, saying it "found no evidence" to support the allegations against Coomer. Kern is a Republican member of the Arizona state House of Representatives. The host further acknowledged that Smartmatic is not owned by any foreign entity, nor is it connected to George Soros, as had been alleged. Each adjudicated ballot is marked with the username of the poll worker who made the change. [117] They reported that sources "expected Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, who own and control the Fox Corporation, to sit for depositions as soon as this month". Ben Popken is a senior business reporter for NBC News. Thank you for supporting our journalism. [15][16] Both lawsuits accused Powell and Giuliani of waging a "viral disinformation campaign" against the company involving "demonstrably false" claims. But ES&S points to its voluntary efforts to improve voting machine security, most notably a new program with the Energy Departments Idaho National Labs, the same federal facility that tests the power grid and nuclear power generators. Voting results in three states that saw surprising majorities by vulnerable incumbent Republican senatorsMaine, North Carolina and South Carolinawere almost all tabulated on ES&S machines.. The main claim in the post is FALSE, based on our research. Fox's bold assertion that Dominion will fail to prove any incidents of defamation does not find universal embrace in legal circles. [69] Coomer asserted they had characterized him as a "traitor" and that as a result he was subjected to "multiple credible death threats". Thats starting to change. The deposition was set to begin on December 5 and "will continue from day to day (Sundays and holidays excluded) until complete, unless otherwise agreed". She ruled that there was evidence of actual malice which Coomer would need to prove in trial. She has served for over seventeen years in a variety of roles in Speaker Pelosi's offices in Washington, DC & San Francisco. Fox News hosts Jeanine Pirro and Maria Bartiromo had also been outspoken about the allegations, and both their programs aired the same video segment over the following two days. That's all I'm willing to say." ", Eddie Perez, board member at the OSET Institute, a non-profit, non-partisan outfit advocating for reliable and transparent election technology, calls the claims about Dominion that were amplified by Fox hosts and peddled by its guests "outlandish. By John Bresnahan. [51] Edison Research said that they did not write such a report, and that they had "no evidence of any voter fraud". NBC News examined publicly available online shipping records for ES&S for the past five years and found that many parts, including electronics and tablets, were made in China and the Philippines, raising concerns about technology theft or sabotage. When contacted by USA TODAY via Facebook Messengerwith a request for evidence of claims in the video, Community Tap News replied, "My source is Anthony Kern. [78] Carone had alleged in testimony that "Everything that happened at that [Detroit ballot counting facility] was fraud. [23][24], In May 2010, Dominion acquired Premier Election Solutions (formerly Diebold Election Systems, Inc.) from Election Systems & Software (ES&S). They are repeatedly labeled 'inherently improbable' and even 'impossible'. Dominion is not and has never been a front for communists. There is no evidence that Terri McCullough, Pelosi's current chief of staff, holds an executive-level position at the company. That explains the sustained embrace of unsustainable claims, Dominion's legal team argues. Chris Wlaschin, head of systems security for ES&S, said at a Homeland Security cybersecurity summit in Washington in September that the companys machines are not prone to a remote attack over the internet. Im going to ask for this information on the basis of your report within 10 days, he said. [127], Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, problems with the reporting of tabulator counts, Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election, National Association of State Election Directors, National Association of Secretaries of State, Center for Monitoring, Analysis and Strategy, Smartmatic 2020 presidential election and defamation lawsuits, Fox News controversies False claims about the 2020 election. In the video, the man acknowledges that Chvez is dead but claims his family still owns Dominion and that Chvez started the software company. Fox and Dominion did not comment for this story. The statement also says there are no ownership ties to the governments of China, Cuba or Venezuela. [120], It was announced on October 3, 2022, that the Supreme Court of the United States had declined Mike Lindell's appeal against Judge Carl Nichols' ruling; allowing Dominion's case to proceed. [92] A Fox News motion to dismiss the suit was denied on December 16, 2021, by a Delaware Superior Court judge. Create Comparison. Ballot inspection allows users to review ballots with exceptional conditions and either accept or resolve the ballot according to state laws. McCarthy Group did not respond to NBC News requests for comment. The company says that its overseas manufacturing site has been successfully audited by the Election Assistance Commission and that the company conducts on-site visits of its suppliers to ensure that components are trusted, tested and free of malware.. I give them cases, and I suggest First Amendment theoriesmy role is limited to advising on the First Amendment issues at hand. Dominion Voting Systems explains on its website here that its CEO is John Poulos, who is also one of the company's founders. They include Burt, Chief Financial Officer Tom OBrien and the Omaha-based private equity firm McCarthy Group, which owns a controlling interest. [11][12][13][14], Dominion filed defamation lawsuits against former Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell on January 8, 2021, and against Giuliani on January 25, 2021, asking for $1.3 billion in damages from each. The lawyers contend the supposedly defamatory statements often involved hyperbolic characterizations or mere opinions. The application configures user accounts, reasons for exception, batch management and report generation, which in some jurisdictions must be performed by an administrator directly on a server. ES&S machines underwent eight weeks of vulnerability testing and penetration by government hackers. (Photo by Calla Kessler, Special to The . ", "Posts falsify ties between election tech firm and Democrats", "Smartmatic does not own Dominion Voting Systems", "Networks airing side firms in fraud claims", "Giuliani's fantasy parade of false voter-fraud claims", "Did a Dominion Voting Systems Employee Brag About Rigging the Election Against Trump? 03/08/2019 04:07 PM EST. [119], On February 16, 2023, Dominion Voting Systems filed a motion for summary judgment against Fox News, with dozens of internal communications,[126] sent during the months after the 2020 presidential election, showing several prominent network hosts and senior executivesincluding chairman Murdoch and CEO Suzanne Scottdiscussing their knowledge that the election fraud allegations they were reporting were false. [121], On October 20, 2022, Fox's lawyers asked the court to sanction Dominion alleging they destroyed evidence electronic messages between CEO John Poulos and senior executives Kay Stinson and Waldeep Singh. Apparently speaking about the ICE machine, one source responded that this was incorrect, and that Dominion voting machines are only a "ballot marking device" system in which the voter deposits their printed ballot into a box for counting. But ES&S still faces questions about the companys supply chain and the identities of its investors, although it has said it is entirely owned by Americans. Then, her loud testimony went viral", "Dominion Voting Systems threatens to sue Mike Lindell, MyPillow C.E.O., over false claims", "Dominion sues Trump lawyer Sidney Powell for defamation", "Dominion Had To Use 'Extraordinary Measures' To Serve Sidney Powell In Defamation Lawsuit", "Dominion to file lawsuit against MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell after he said "please sue me", "Dominion Says It Will Sue MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell Over Election Fraud Claims", "Dominion sues MyPillow and its CEO Mike Lindell for $1.3 billion", "Dominion sues MyPillow founder for $1.3 billion over election conspiracy theories", "Dominion Sues MyPillow, CEO Mike Lindell Over Election Claims", "Pro-Trump MyPillow CEO sued for $1.3bn over election fraud claims", "Sidney Powell's legal defense: 'Reasonable people' wouldn't believe her election fraud claims", "Pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell moves to dismiss Dominion defamation suit", "Fox News sued by Dominion Voting for $1.6 billion over election fraud claims", "Judge orders pro-Trump attorneys who brought frivolous election fraud case to pay more than $180,000 to defendants they sued", "Dominion sues pro-Trump outlets OAN and Newsmax over election conspiracy theories", "Court Lets Challenge Against Former Overstock CEO Move ForwardHere's Where Dominion And Smartmatic's Defamation Suits Stand Now", "A federal judge denied motions from Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani, and Mike Lindell to dismiss Dominion's lawsuits against them", "DirecTV dropped OAN today, rejecting GOP pleas to keep right-wing network", "Fox and friends confront billion-dollar US lawsuits over election fraud claims", "Trial date set in defamation suit against Fox News over U.S. election claims", "MyPillow CEO Recruits First Amendment Heavy Hitters to Fight Dominion", "MyPillow's Lindell Sanctioned Over 'Frivolous' Election Suit", "Dominion Voting Systems' lawsuit against Newsmax can proceed, judge rules", "Fox News Parent Has to Face Defamation Suit Over Vote-Rigging Claims", "Judge rejects Fox bid to dismiss election lawsuit after calling out Rupert Murdoch's role", "Judge says Fox News's parent company must face Dominion's defamation lawsuit because of Rupert Murdoch's alleged role in pushing election lies", "On its back foot in defamation lawsuit, Fox News hires new legal counsel", "Former Attorney General Bill Barr subpoenaed in Dominion 2020 election lawsuit", "Barr subpoenaed in voting machine company's lawsuit against Fox News", "Sidney Powell Hires Kennedys Litigator to Fight Dominion Voting Defamation Claims", "Sidney Powell's Remaining 'Kraken' Cases Thrown Out By Supreme Court", "Meet the lawyers behind the 'Kraken' election conspiracy lawsuits", "Lawyers who tried to overturn Michigan's election argue they shouldn't be punished", "Jared Kushner: I stopped Trump attacking Murdoch in 2015", "Jared Kushner says Rupert Murdoch told him 'there is nothing I can do' after Fox News called Arizona for Biden in 2020", "Defamation Suit About Election Falsehoods Puts Fox on Its Heels", "Voting machine maker moves to subpoena Pa.'s former secretary of state", "Sean Hannity and Other Fox Stars Face Depositions in Defamation Suit", "Dominion 'Extremely Concerned About Leaks', Asks Federal Judge to Prevent MyPillow from Abusing Discovery", "Supreme Court allows defamation lawsuit against MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell to proceed", "Dominion to depose Fox boss Lachlan Murdoch as defamation suit heats up", "Fox News Accuses Dominion of Destroying Messages of 'Senior Executives', Seeks Sanctions Dismissing Multi-Billion Dollar Suit", "Supreme Court won't hear case brought by a group of voters against Dominion Voting Systems and Facebook", "Rupert Murdoch to Be Deposed Next Week in Voting-Machine Suit Against Fox", "Fox News hosts, execs privately doubted 2020 conspiracy claims shared on air", Dominions Brief in Support of Its Motion for Summary Judgment on Liability of Fox News Network, LLC and Fox Corporation Dated: January 17, 2022 Public Version Filed on February 16, 2023, "Fox Stars Privately Expressed Disbelief About Election Fraud Claims. Sharpies invalidating conservative voter's ballots, Fact check: Viral photo shows fake logo and slogan for Dominion Voting Systems, Fact check: False claim that electronic voting software companies Dominion and Smartmatic have closed, AP News, Dec. 1, 2020, Family of Hugo Chavez does not own Dominion Voting Systems, Politifact, Dec. 3, 2020,No, Hugo Chavezs family does not own Dominion Voting Systems, SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT: FACTS & RUMORS, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. )[111][112][113][114], Media outlets such as the Guardian mentioned the lawsuit against Fox News in late July, when excerpts of Jared Kushner's book Breaking History were released. During the voting process, the machine generates a marked paper ballot that serves as the official ballot record. Just off a bustling interstate near the border between Nebraska and Iowa, a 2,800-square-foot American flag flies over the squat office park that is home to Election Systems & Software LLC. Our position is that Dominion is the government, for purposes of the First Amendment. It has . [96], The next day, district judge Carl J. Nichols denied motions by Lindell, Powell, and Giuliani to dismiss the lawsuits against them. Officials in Maryland and North Carolina have started questioning voting machine makers about potential foreign ownership. He said that his personal address had been posted online, as had those of everyone from his parents and siblings to ex-girlfriends. ATI is a hand-held controller that coordinates with headphones and connects directly to the ICE. Plaintiff's attorneys were ordered to pay $180,000 for the defendants' attorneys' fees, with the judge finding that the lawsuit was filed "in bad faith" and made frivolous arguments. [17][18] During subsequent months, Dominion filed suits seeking $1.6 billion in damages from each of Fox News, Newsmax, OANN and former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne,[19] while also suing Mike Lindell and his corporation, MyPillow. Dominion Voting. [2] It develops software in offices in the United States, Canada, and Serbia. Here are four key things to know about Dominion, the voting machine manufacturer that is causing such a stir. Lastly, the man in the video claims that the Director of the CIA, Gina Haspel, is dead. OMAHA, Neb. 'Crazy Stuff. [81], Under threat of litigation, on January 15, 2021, the conservative online magazine American Thinker published a retraction of stories it published asserting that Dominion engaged in a conspiracy to rig the election, acknowledging, "these statements are completely false and have no basis in fact". 1. In preparing for this November's election, the . On Nov. 7, 2020, the Associated Press, the New York Times, Fox News . The chief executive officer of Dominion Voting Systems on Thursday did not rule out taking legal action against President Donald Trump as the election technology company has been the target. Among them: claims that the use of Sharpie markers in Maricopa County, Arizona, had invalidated the votes cast by Trump supporters because the ink often bled through the ballots. "[101], In the US federal district court in Washington D.C., on May 19, 2022, Judge Carl Nichols dismissed a defamation lawsuit brought against Dominion Voting Systems (and also Smartmatic) while also imposing sanctions on Mike Lindell, CEO of MyPillow. The issue took on greater urgency after the FBI disclosed in July 2018 that a Russian oligarch had invested in a Maryland election services firm. '"[115][116], The New York Times, on August 13, 2022, noted that there had been no movement towards settlement from either Dominion or Fox, and both "are deep into document discovery, combing through years of each other's emails and text messages, and taking depositions". [77], In December 2020, defamation attorneys representing Dominion sent letters to Trump personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, White House counsel Pat Cipollone, and former Dominion contractor and self-described whistleblower Mellissa Carone, advising them to preserve all records relating to the company and demanding Giuliani and Carone cease making defamatory claims about the company, warning that legal action was "imminent". [74] Dominion itself was not party to the suit, but released a statement saying "Sidney Powell and many othersincluding some news organizationshave trampled on countless reputations as they pandered their ridiculous conspiracy theories. The way people vote is managed by a couple of entities that people dont know a lot about, and that creates risks for the country, he said. Dominion Voting Systems, a primary target of baseless conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election, will "definitely" file more lawsuits against those who pushed those false claims . Rudy Giuliani, a lawyer for former President Donald Trump, was recently sued by Dominion Voting Systems for statements he made accusing the voting machine manufacturer of switching votes to President Biden in the 2020 presidential election. IE 11 is not supported. 6,885 Followers. The claims about interference and fraud from the campaign's supporters range from Sharpies invalidating conservative voter's ballotsin Arizona to Hugo Chvez the deceased former president of Venezuela owning part of Dominion Voting Systems, whose machines are used in 28 states. The Version table provides details related to the release that this issue/RFE will be addressed. [15] The suit against Giuliani is based on more than fifty statements by Giuliani made on his podcast, at legislative hearings, on Twitter, and in conservative media, and alleges that Giuliani made false statements about the company in an attempt to earn money from legal fees and through his podcast. Weekly national intelligencer. "[117] While Fox continues to claim that any statements made on air were covered by the First Amendment, and as such can not be considered defamation, the Times reported that "Fox has also been searching for evidence that could, in effect, prove the Dominion conspiracy theories weren't really conspiracy theories. Fox argues this should result in the jury being instructed that they "must presume the messages contained information unfavorable to Plaintiffs and information undermining Plaintiffs' damages calculation", or that the case be dismissed and Dominion fined for spoliation. [1] The company's headquarters are in Toronto, Ontario, where it was founded, and Denver, Colorado. Dominion Voting Systems has an overall rating of 3.7 out of 5, based on over 38 reviews left anonymously by employees. [83] These included "hiring private investigators and pursuing Powell across state lines", and while evading being served, she "refused to respond to requests" offering waivers that could have given her more time to react to the complaint. Virtually no laws govern the cybersecurity aspects of voting machine technologies. Dominion Voting's Tweets. Dominion was started by him," he adds. President-elect Joe Biden officially secured the presidency after the Electoral College met to give him and Vice President-elect Harris 306 votes. As an example they pointed to how Fox News had settled in 2020 after the parents of Seth Rich sued due to Hannity and other Fox personnel trying to link his death to an email hack. Coomer also said that Oltmann had falsely claimed in a podcast that Coomer had participated in a September 2020 conference call with members of antifa, and that during the call he had said, "Don't worry about the election, Trump is not gonna win. This left in place federal judge N. Reid Neureiter's ruling that the plaintiffs lacked standing. [69] The filing stated that the "false and baseless" claims against him have caused "immense injury to Dr. Coomer's reputation, professional standing, safety, and privacy". They said Dominion was backed by Venezuela, and that its machines and software switched millions of votes from Donald Trump to Joe Biden. [9], Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani made several false assertions about Dominion, including that its voting machines used software developed by a competitor, Smartmatic, which he claimed actually owned Dominion, and which he said was founded by the former socialist Venezuelan leader Hugo Chvez. More:Fact check: Viral photo shows fake logo and slogan for Dominion Voting Systems In a video posted Nov. 30 to Facebook on the page Community Tap News, a man who claims to be a Biden voter and . Fox News' legal team does not defend them as correct. [48] The affected municipalities extended voting times to compensate for the glitch; most prominently, the city of Greater Sudbury, the largest city impacted by the cap, extended voting for a full 24hours and announced no election results until the evening of October 23. Tweets. His affidavit was part of a lawsuit filed by the attorney and pro-Trump conspiracy theorist Lin Wood, who was subject of an effort by the Georgia state bar to have his mental fitness evaluated as it weighed a complaint seeking to strip him of his license to practice law. [32], Adjudication Client is a software application with administrative and ballot inspection roles. The man in the video does not identify himself beyond saying he voted in Maricopa County, Arizona. Additionally, despite being a privately held company that does not disclose its financials, CEO Jeff Poulous said in a letter to the House Committee on Administration that he owns a 12% stake ofthe company, while75.2% is owned by Staple Street Capital andno other investors own more than a 5% stake, the Associated Press reported. [64][65] Eric Coomer, Dominion's director of product strategy and security, went into hiding soon after the election due to fear for his and his family's safety. [102] Nichols ruled Lindell's claims were groundless and frivolous, and partially granted Smartmatic's motion for sanctions and fees against Lindell and his legal team for filing the suit, with the amount to be decided later. Voting System Examination(s) and Status for Dominion. Hugo Chvez did not found Dominion Voting Systems, nor does his family own a stake of the company. "[83], On February 16, 2021, Dominion announced that they would be filing a lawsuit against Lindell in response to OANN airing a program by Lindell titled Absolute Proof that repeated his false claims about the 2020 election. [98] Angelo Carusone of Media Matters for America told reporters that as 90% of OAN's revenue came from DirecTV that the company will not survive through Dominion's lawsuit against it, but will "be wiped out from the litigation costs. Non-partisan and nonprofit since 1988. Dominion's attorneys have deposed people throughout the Fox hierarchy, from junior producers to stars, to executives, to most recently, controlling owner Rupert Murdoch, who sat for questioning under oath at the Fox Studio lot last Thursday and Friday. [125] Previously Fox's lawyers had stated that any efforts to depose the Murdochs and put them at the center of the case would just be a "fruitless fishing expedition". Some components (such as surface mount capacitors, resistors, inductors and fixed logic devices) may be sourced from China-based manufacturers, the letter said, referring to basic circuitry components. [29] Hoover, Vice President, has an MSc in mechanical engineering from the University of Alberta.[30]. Media. In today's election market, Dominion Voting Systems sets itself apart with a commitment to customer service, convenience, and a superior use of . Kevin Hagen/Getty Images In those documents, Fox's attorneys offer "omitted context" for the seemingly incendiary remarks by such hosts as Sean Hannity, Jeanine Pirro, Lou Dobbs and Maria Bartiromo, as well as their featured guests, including Trump and his former campaign attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Signature verification on mail-in ballots in Arizona, including Maricopa County, is required under state law and per the state's election procedures manual. Georgia: In 2019, a $107 million ten-year contract with Dominion procured by the Secretary of State covers 30,000 touch screen voting machines and the installation of a "verified paper ballot". (A few days after the election, as Fox has noted, anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum pushed McDaniel repeatedly for any proof of her insinuations.). [45], In June 2018, Elections Ontario used Dominion's tabulator machines for the provincial election and deployed them at 50percent of polling stations.