Lawsuits Will Bring out the Truth

The announcement this past week that Dominion Voting Systems Inc., the company that manufactures voting machines that are used widely across the United States, has filed a $1.3 billion lawsuit against Rudy Giuliani for his deliberately defamatory statements about the company, is the perfect antidote to the disinformation campaign that was spread by Donald Trump and his minions in their attempt to subvert the results of the November election.

It was one thing for Trump, Giuliani, and others to spout their ridiculous claims, in general terms, about a stolen election, but it is quite another when their patently-false statements negatively affect the reputation and business interests of individuals and companies.

Just as this newspaper cannot publish false and defamatory information, neither can major media outlets nor individuals such as Rudy Giuliani. We would note that an employee of Dominion has filed a separate suit against a number of media outlets, as well as the Trump campaign, for their defamatory and injurious statements about him.

A few years ago, a web site named Gawker Media posted a video of the former wrestling star Hulk Hogan that was the basis for an invasion of privacy suit filed by Hogan that ultimately resulted in a $140 million judgment against Gawker, which put Gawker out of business.

We predict that the lawsuits filed by Dominion (they previously sued another of Trump’s lawyers) will have far-reaching consequences, particularly if Dominion names others who, similar to Giuliani, have made defamatory statements about Dominion.

Rudy Giuliani now is facing financial ruin, all of which he brought on himself because of his antics, a very fitting and appropriate ending for a man who tried to subvert a free and fair election, the most basic element of our Constitution.