Dominion in the lawsuits argues separately that Giuliani, Lindell and Powell had each harmed its reputation by spreading dozens of false and misleading claims about the company and its role in the contest between Trump and President Joe Biden.
Sibley in April filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that Dominion’s claims for relief were not brought in accordance with proper procedural standards of the court.
That argument differed from one brought by Powell’s lawyers, who argued in part that “no reasonable person” would believe that her false claims and conspiracy theories about the 2020 election were “truly statements of fact.”
Dominion, which operated voting machines in numerous states during the 2020 election cycle, is requesting roughly $1.3 billion in damages in each of those cases. Dominion has also sued Fox News for $1.6 billion, accusing the network of falsely claiming that it had rigged the election. Fox has moved to dismiss that case.
At the start of the hearing, Dominion lawyer Thomas Clare introduced CEO Poulos, who was sitting at the counsel table.
Clare was followed by Andrew Parker of the MyPillow legal team, who noted that Dershowitz, described as “a part of the MyPillow legal team,” was attending by phone.
Dershowitz, the former Harvard law professor and one-time impeachment lawyer for Trump, had previously told CNBC he was playing an “extremely limited” role in the proceedings.
Parker said that Dershowitz was unable to appear in person “because he was unable to travel due to surgery.”
Lindell himself was present for the hearing, according to his lawyer Douglas Daniels, who explicitly introduced him to Nichols. “I would like to introduce to the court, Mr. Mike Lindell,” the CEO’s lawyer said.
Sibley followed, telling the judge, “It’s just me.”
After him, Powell attorney Howard Kleinhendler said during his introduction, “I’d also like to point out to the court that Ms. Powell is here.”
This is developing news. Please check back for updates.
— CNBC’s Dan Mangan contributed to this report.
Source Article from https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/24/rudy-giuliani-skips-dominion-powell-mypillow-lindell-hearing.html
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