American Thinker apologizes to Dominion after getting letter from defamation attorneys

Conservative opinion website American Thinker on Friday issued a statement apologizing for printing false claims about Dominion Voting Systems after the voting machine company’s lawyers accused the blog of defamation. 

American Thinker editor and publisher Thomas Lifson posted an online statement saying that the website had received a “lengthy letter from Dominion’s defamation lawyers explaining why they believe that their client has been the victim of defamatory statements.”

Lifson said that, “Having considered the full import of the letter,” he admitted that several pieces on the website “falsely accuse” Dominion “of conspiring to steal the November 2020 election from Donald Trump.” 

Lifson added that the pieces “rely on discredited sources who have peddled debunked theories about Dominion’s supposed ties to Venezuela, fraud on Dominion’s machines that resulted in massive vote switching or weighted votes, and other claims falsely stating that there is credible evidence that Dominion acted fraudulently.”

The opinion website head confirmed, “These statements are completely false and have no basis in fact,” and that “Industry experts and public officials alike have confirmed that Dominion conducted itself appropriately and that there is simply no evidence to support these claims.” 

“It was wrong for us to publish these false statements,” Lifson continued. “We apologize to Dominion for all of the harm this caused them and their employees,” the statement added, along with an apology to readers for what it called a “grave error.” 

In the weeks following the 2020 election, President Trump and his allies advanced unsubstantiated claims of a “stolen” election and widespread voter fraud. The Trump campaign’s challenge of the election results included unfounded allegations against Dominion. The allegations espoused that the company was established in Venezuela as part of a vote-rigging operation in favor of the late socialist leader Hugo Chávez and that Dominion bribed state officials in Georgia to secure its contract.

Last week, Dominion, which provided vote-counting machines to several states in the November election, filed a defamation lawsuit against pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell for claiming that the voting machine company rigged the election in favor of President-elect Joe Biden. 

Dominion is seeking $1.3 billion in damages and an order from the court for Powell to stop making false statements about it.

In a press conference held the same day the lawsuit was filed, a Dominion attorney said that the legal team had not closed the door on potentially suing Trump himself and his allies for their role in advancing false information about Dominion. 

“The short answer is, we have not ruled anyone out,” Dominion lawyer Thomas Clare said at the time. “We are looking very deliberately at the statements and actions of everyone who has been involved in talking about Dominion.”