Dominion Voting Systems suing Newsmax, One America News over election claims

The Dominion voting systems company is suing a pair of far-right media companies and the former head of Overstock.com for defamation based on statements made about the 2020 election. 

In separate lawsuits filed this week, the company alleges that One America News and Newsmax as well as Patrick Byrne, the former CEO of Overstock.com, made a series of false claims that the company’s machines were manipulated to swing votes in President Biden’s favor and against former President Trump.

“Newsmax helped create and cultivate an alternate reality where up is down, pigs have wings, and Dominion engaged in a colossal fraud to steal the presidency from Donald Trump by rigging the vote,” the lawsuit against Newsmax says, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The lawsuit against One America News focuses on a series of programming following the election titled “Dominion-izing the Vote,” which the company said was “exclusively devoted to defaming Dominion.” 

The lawsuit, which names OAN reporters Chanel Rion and Christina Bobb, alleges the network “recklessly disregarded the truth; indeed, OAN knew the statements it repeatedly broadcast about Dominion were lies.” 

Dominion’s lawsuit against OAN also criticizes the network for putting Byrne on its airwaves to serve as an “expert” on the company’s voting systems. 

“Byrne has a long prior history of fabricating fantastical stories without ever providing a shred of evidence to support their truth, in order to serve his own personal interests,” the lawsuit against OAN said. 

In a statement to The Hill, Newsmax said after the election it had “simply reported on allegations made by well-known public figures, including the President, his advisors and members of Congress.”

“Dominion’s action today is a clear attempt to squelch such reporting and undermine a free press,” the outlet said.

Representatives from OAN did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill. Byrne did not respond to a request for comment, the Wall Street Journal said. 

Earlier this year, Dominion slapped Fox News with the $1.6 billion suit, which Fox has sought to dismiss.