Latest news with #DominionVotingSystem
CNBC
23-07-2025
- Politics
- CNBC
French President Macron, wife Brigitte sue Candace Owens for defamation from transgender claim
French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, on Wednesday sued right-wing provocateur podcaster Candace Owens for repeatedly falsely claiming that Brigitte Macron "is in fact a man." The Macrons' 22-count civil lawsuit accusing Owens of defamation and false light alleges that Owens, since March 2024, has "used this false statement" about Brigitte Macron "to promote her independent platform, gain notoriety, and make money." "Owens disregarded all credible evidence disproving her claim in favor of platforming known conspiracy theorists and proven defamers," the lawsuit filed in Delaware Superior Court says. "And rather than engage with President and Mrs. Macron's attempts to set the record straight, Owens mocked them and used them as additional fodder for her frenzied fan base," says the suit, which notes that Brigitte Macron bore three children from her first husband. The complaint says that Owens' allegedly knowingly false statements about the Macrons include claims that they are blood relatives who have committed incest, and that President Macron was chosen to be president as part of a CIA-operated program or "similar mind-control program." The statements were made in an eight-part podcast, "Becoming Brigitte," and in accompanying posts on the social media site X, the suit says. "These lies have caused tremendous damage to the Macrons," the suit says. The complaint seeks monetary damages to be determined at trial. The Macrons are being represented in the suit by the law firm Clare Locke. Clare Locke in April 2023 with another law firm, obtained a $787.5 million settlement for the voting machine company Dominion Voting System from Fox Corp. and its cable networks, including Fox News, to resolve a defamation suit related to claims about the 2020 presidential election. "If ever there was a clear-cut case of defamation, this is it," said the firm's attorney Tom Clare, about the lawsuit filed by the Macrons. The Macrons, in a statement, said, "Because Ms. Owens systematically reaffirmed these falsehoods in response to each of our attorneys' repeated requests for a retraction, we ultimately concluded that referring the matter to a court of law was the only remaining avenue for remedy." "Ms. Owens' campaign of defamation was plainly designed to harass and cause pain to us and our families and to garner attention and notoriety. We gave her every opportunity to back away from these claims, but she refused," the couple said. "It is our earnest hope that this lawsuit will set the record straight and end this campaign of defamation once and for all." A spokesperson for Owens, in a statement to CNBC, said "Candace Owens is not shutting up. This is a foreign government attacking the First Amendment rights of an American independent journalist." "Candace repeatedly requested an interview with Brigitte Macron," the spokesperson said. "Instead of offering a comment, Brigitte is resorting to trying to bully a reporter into submission." "In France, politicians can bully journalists, but this is not France. It's America. Candace will address everything on her show today, where she will continue to express her First Amendment rights." Owens, on July 2, published on her website a letter from Clare Locke to her attorney demanding that Owens "and the entities she controls retract her false and defamatory statements" about the Macrons.
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Kern County extends Dominion Voting System contract for 2 years
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The Kern County Board of Supervisors approved a contract extension for the controversial Dominion Voting System. Election Integrity advocates have had complaints and mistrust of Dominion systems since the 2020 election. But the contract expired, and with a bill going through legislature right now to separate the Registrar of Voters from the Auditor-Controller's office a decision had to be made. Applause and thank you's filled the supervisors chambers Tuesday, approving a two year contract extension for the Dominion voting Systems. A stark contrast from when the contract was renewed three years ago, when the board chambers erupted into chaos. The elections office, election integrity advocates, and Supervisors David Couch and Leticia Perez are all on a committee to talk about voter related issues, this decision came out of that committee. In January, the board decided to split the Auditor-Controller with the Registrar of Voters, due to community concerns that it was too much work for just one person. 'As the auditor our job is to help those departments in safeguarding taxpayer money and I do take that part of my job very seriously,' said Aimee Espinoza, Kern's Auditor-Controller-Clerk and Registrar of Voters. The bill has to go through the state assembly, which hasn't acted yet. Then a new Registrar of Voters can be appointed by the board. The over $580,000 dollar contract extension lasts until December 31st 2027, which would cover the elections next year. Reasoning for extending the contract is to let the new Registrar of Voters decide whether to keep the Dominion system or change to a different one. 'The new ROV coming in maybe a year or year and a half that they have all the opportunities to correct the ship if you will,' said Charles Shinn of the Concerned Citizens Group. There are currently three voting systems approved by the Secretary of State, Dominion, Heart, and ESNS. 'The majority of counties use dominion and the majority of the top 15 largest counties use dominion,' said Espinoza. At the end of the contract, the appointed ROV would start a contract process and start to look at the different approved systems. While election integrity advocates are happy about the news, they still say that there issues currently lie at the secretary of state, because the voting system options are limited. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
UPI
17-06-2025
- Business
- UPI
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell defamed Dominion employee, jury says
1 of 4 | MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell (pictured in February at the White House) defamed a former employee of Dominion Voting System, a federal jury found on Monday. File Photo by Francis Chung/UPI | License Photo June 17 (UPI) -- MyPillow CEO and conservative political activist Mike Lindell defamed a former employee of Denver's Dominion Voting Systems, a federal jury found on Monday. After a two-week trial, a federal jury is requiring Lindell to pay Eric Coomer roughly $2.3 million, according to David Beller, one of Coomer's lawyers. Coomer's attorney Charles Caine said, "We're thrilled with the verdict." During Coomer's time as a former director of product strategy and security at Dominion, a manufacturer of voting machines, Lindell claimed -- without any evidence -- that Coomer had flipped votes to prevent President Trump from winning re-election. The jury found three statements that met requirements of defamation. Two were made by Lindell and one was made by someone else at a FrankSpeech event. That broadcast platform is now known as LindellTV. "I mean, you are disgusting, and you are treasonous. You are a traitor to the United States of America," said Lindell, according to court filings. "Eric Coomer, you are a criminal. Eric Coomer, your lawyers better look out. I'm not putting up with this," the far-right Trump supporter said in an interview. "You've been a part of the biggest crime this world has ever seen." Coomer then sued Lindell, saying the harassment from him and others put an end to his 15-year career in the industry. And Coomer said Lindell's harassment led to "death threats," as well. "Mike Lindell not only hurt Eric Coomer with his baseless lies -- he hurt the American people and the democratic process," Beller said in a statement. "Dr. Coomer is now one step closer to putting his life back together." After the verdict, Lindell stressed that his company is not liable for defamation. He said in the jury's finding that he will continue to claim that voting machine companies steal elections. "It's a huge breakthrough about free speech, our First Amendment rights," he said.
