One of the voting-machine companies who were smeared by Donald Trump's Presidential campaign have hit Fox News with a huge lawsuit that asks for an eye-watering $2.7 billion in damages.
The 285-page lawsuit names Fox Corporation and Fox New Network, as well as Fox hosts Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro plus Trump's lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell.
Smartmatic's complaint relates to the lies spread about the company as part of the broader conspiracy that former President Donald Trump had the 2020 election stolen from him due to fraud.
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"They needed a villain," the lawsuit says. "They needed someone to blame...Without any true villain, defendants invented one. Defendants decided to make Smartmatic the villain in their story."
A Fox News spokeswoman said in a statement responding to the suit: "Fox News Media is committed to providing the full context of every story with in-depth reporting and clear opinion. We are proud of our 2020 election coverage and will vigorously defend this meritless lawsuit in court."
For Trump lawyers Giuliani and Powell, this new lawsuit comes just days after Dominion Voting Machines also sued them, targeting both for $1.3 billion. For his part, Giuliani seemed unconcerned by the threat of the Dominion suit.
"Dominion's defamation lawsuit for $1.3b will allow me to investigate their history, finances, and practices fully and completely," he said in a statement.
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"The amount being asked for is, quite obviously, intended to frighten people of faint heart. It is another act of intimidation by the hate-filled left-wing to wipe out and censor the exercise of free speech, as well as the ability of lawyers to defend their clients vigorously.
"As such, we will investigate a countersuit against them for violating these Constitutional rights."
He'd also somewhat bizarrely told Chat with the Mayor program on WABC that the Dominion suit was a chance for him to in fact investigate Dominion.
"What do you think I am, some kind of jacka**?" Giuliani asked.
"That's intended to frighten me, you want to frighten me. You want to scare me, like you have some of these companies and stations that have gone ahead and kissed your you-know-what. Because they're afraid of you.
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"Well, I tell you I'm a crazy guy, I really am, I'm just really crazy. So not only haven't you scared me, you've actually given me something that I couldn't get through the censorship that's been set up so nobody can see your machines."
It remains to be seen how bold the increasingly alienated Giuliani remains in light of this latest news, which shows once again that the voting machine companies mean business when it comes to avenging some of the lies spread about them in the wake of Donald Trump's resounding Presidential loss.
Topics: US News