Sidney Powell, the disgraced former campaign attorney to President Trump, is laying out her plan to get Dominion Voting Systems to throw out its $1.3 billion defamation suit against her. The voting systems company hit Powell with the massive suit after Powell made repeated claims the 2020 presidential election was stolen by widespread voter fraud. However, Powell is claiming her comments are protected by the First Amendment because her statements were opinions, and no “reasonable” person would have ever believed her claims.
The pro-Trump attorney’s legal team is claiming, “reasonable people would not accept such statements as fact but view them only as claims that await testing by the courts through the adversary process.”
In other words, her defense is that the Trump supporters who believed her were insane to believe her. Powell thinks Trump supporters are unreasonable.
According to Townhall:
“Given the highly charged and political context of the statements, it is clear that Powell was describing the facts on which she based the lawsuits she filed in support of President Trump. Indeed, Plaintiffs themselves characterize the statements at issue as ‘wild accusations’ and ‘outlandish claims,'” the motion reads.
“…the speech at issue here is not actionable. As political speech, it lies at the core of First Amendment protection; such speech must be ‘uninhibited, robust, and wide-open,'” the motion says. “Additionally, in light of all the circumstances surrounding the statements, their context, and the availability of the facts on which the statements were based, it was clear to reasonable persons that Powell’s claims were her opinions and legal theories on a matter of utmost public concern. Those members of the public who were interested in the controversy were free to, and did, review that evidence and reached their own conclusions—or awaited resolution of the matter by the courts before making up their minds. Under these circumstances, the statements are not actionable.”
Powell’s attorney, Howard Kleinhendler, said the former Trump attorney stands by her statements and views.
“It’s her opinion, based on her view of the factual affidavits that were presented to her,” Kleinhendler told the Wall Street Journal.
Dominion Voting Systems is also suing Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, and Fox News.
