Dominion's claim that Giuliani enriched himself by falsely claiming that dominion fixed the 2020 election.
To win, the plaintiff must prove:
🔹A false statement purporting to be fact
🔹publication or communication of that statement to a third person
🔹fault amounting to at least negligence
🔹damages, or some harm caused to the person or entity who is the subject of the statement
1/
Dominion recounts facts to show thought up an "ideal" lie for showing the election was stolen:
So show that Giuliani knew these were lies, Dominion notes that he never raised these lies in court because he knew they were lies.
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The lie is outrageous and easily disproven.
To meet the second element, the brief recounts at length the many, many times Giuliani appeared on Fox, radio, podcasts and at "press conferences" to push the lie to "global" audiences.
Examples:
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To demonstrate that Giuliani knew he was lying, the brief recounts that, as Giuliani was spreading the lie to global audience, he was also filing lawsuits about the election -- but he NEVER repeated these lies in court (where lies have consequences).
4/
Giuliani not only presented "anonymous" sources (that seem not to exist) he embellished those sources.
There is much detail in this brief, including ways that Giuliani misrepresented what happened in elections to fit his invented narrative.
5/
Giuliani offered "experts" like Russell Ramsland to back up his claims.
To show Giuliani knew or should have known these were lies (insanity is not a defense!) the brief touches on Giuliani's legal training and experience as a prosecutor.
6/
Moreover, Giuliani persisted with these lies even after the lies were disproven.
The brief demonstrates that Giuliani "intentionally disregarded" reliable sources Including Trump appointees, Republicans, and election security experts who rebutted his lies.
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What makes these defamation lawsuits so compelling is that damages are easy to prove.
In addition to harm to the company's reputation and profits, people on social media were calling for Dominion employees to be jailed. Employees received death threats.
8/
Customers and those with contracts with Dominion started looking to cancel their contracts.
The resulting public distrust is destroying Dominion.
You can see that meeting the elements in this case just isn't that hard.
9/
As with the Smartmatic lawsuit, Dominion spends a considerable amount of time detailing the ways that Giuliani personally profited from telling the lie. He sold products on his podcast, etc.
There are no due process procedures for impeachment mandated by the Constitution. The House decides how it will impeach, and the Senate decides the rules for the trial.
The Fifth Amendment requires due process before a person can be deprived of life, liberty or property.
The Constitution specifically says a president can be indicted (criminal) after being removed from office.
Impeachment isn't about losing life, liberty or property.
2/
Trump is complaining that he was denied due process because the article was hurriedly drafted before a lengthy inquiry. He also claims that a president cannot be put on trial after he leaves office.
These two claims together create a last-minute coup exception.
3/
The brief opens by presenting Trump as a victim ⤵️
The brief cherrypicks the facts and claims that Trump quickly denounced and urged only a peaceful protest.
The brief concludes that none of it was Trump's fault.
This "conclusion" is reached by selecting a few facts and ignoring everything else.
1/
We saw this strategy in the first impeachment: Focus on the single telephone call (in this case, a single speech), ignore all the surrounding facts and circumstances, and conclude that the call (or speech) fails to prove the allegation.
Attached is a list of the plaintiffs and the damages sought. The number usually given is $2.7 billion, but if this case goes to trial and the defendants lose, it's possibly more.
To win, the plaintiffs must prove:
🔹A false statement purporting to be fact
🔹publication or communication of that statement to a third person
🔹fault amounting to at least negligence
🔹damages, or some harm caused to the person or entity who is the subject of the statement
2/
I: THE LIE
The lie goes like this: Smartmatic was a Venezuelan company under the control of corrupt dictators from socialist countries. Smartmatic’s election technology and software were used in many of the states with close outcomes. . .
3/
Right away, the House Managers steer clear of a pitfall they face: Having this trial play out as if it’s a criminal trial.
This isn't a criminal trial. Trump betrayed his oath of office.
The Constitution makes clear criminal prosecution can happen later. This trial can result only in removal from office and/or inability to hold future office.
So, for example, the standard of proof is lower.
1/
The introduction gives an overview of the facts, and the facts are damning.
“Trump used his bully pulpit to insist that the Joint Session of Congress was the final act of a vast plot to destroy America.”
"Fight like hell [or] you're not going to have a country anymore."
No matter how this trial plays out, the US will remain divided between those who choose truth, Democracy, and rule of law and the millions who reject these things.
My mantra is that there are no magic bullets and these people will always be with us.
Except for state legislatures, they have less power now than they have for a while.
2/
The only real and lasting solutions are political ones. Get Democrats into local offices. Get people who want democracy to survive to the polls at every election, at every level.