GIULIANI FACES $1.3B SUIT OVER VOTE FRAUD CLAIMS

A U.S. voting machine company filed a US$1.3 billion lawsuit against former President Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani, accusing him of defamation in what it called his “big lie” campaign about widespread fraud in the presidential election, court documents on Monday showed.

The Denver-based company, Dominion Voting Systems Inc, filed an earlier lawsuit against pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, whom the company also accused of spreading false conspiracy theories about the election that Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

A senior Dominion employee, Eric Coomer, also filed a defamation lawsuit against the Trump campaign, saying he had been driven into hiding because of death threats from Trump supporters.

Giuliani said in a statement that Dominion's lawsuit was intended to intimidate others from exercising their free speech rights.

“Dominion's defamation lawsuit for US$1.3B will allow me to investigate their history, finances, and practices fully and completely,” Giuliani said, adding that he may file a countersuit against the company for violating his rights.

Trump and his allies spent two months denying his election defeat, and claiming without evidence that it was the result of widespread voter fraud.