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No ruling yet in Dominion lawsuits against Powell and Giuliani

May 11, 2022 GMT
FILE - Sidney Powell, right, speaks next to former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani, as members of President Donald Trump's legal team, during a news conference at the Republican National Committee headquarters on Nov. 19, 2020, in Washington. On May 11, 2022, The Associated Press reported on false claims that an election technology firm's lawsuits had been resolved. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
FILE - Sidney Powell, right, speaks next to former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani, as members of President Donald Trump's legal team, during a news conference at the Republican National Committee headquarters on Nov. 19, 2020, in Washington. On May 11, 2022, The Associated Press reported on false claims that an election technology firm's lawsuits had been resolved. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

CLAIM: Election technology firm Dominion Voting Systems lost its lawsuits against attorney Sidney Powell and former President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. Legal records show that Dominion’s defamation lawsuits against Powell and Giuliani are ongoing in May 2022.

THE FACTS: Social media users are reviving a year-old false claim that Dominion Voting Systems lost its defamation lawsuits against Giuliani and Powell.

“ABSENT from the News,” read a tweet shared more than 18,000 times. “Dominion LOST their law suits against Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell.”

However, both of these defamation lawsuits are still open, according to websites that track legal cases.

In January 2021, Dominion Voting Systems filed the lawsuits against Giuliani and Powell, claiming the lawyers falsely accused the company of rigging the 2020 presidential election in favor of Joe Biden. The suits sought more than $1.3 billion in damages from Giuliani and the same sum from Powell.

Lawyers for Giuliani and Powell have both requested through attorneys that the suits be dismissed. A judge denied those motions. Neither case had a verdict as of May 11, 2022.

There is no evidence of the widespread fraud that Trump and his allies claimed occurred in the 2020 election. An Associated Press review of every potential case of voter fraud in six battleground states found far too few cases to make a difference in the election. Republican and Democratic election officials certified the election as valid, and a clear majority of Congress confirmed that President Joe Biden won.

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This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.