“An election systems worker driven into hiding by death threats has filed a defamation lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s campaign, two of its lawyers and some conservative media figures and outlets,” Talking Points Memo reported on Tuesday, December 22, 2020. Read their story here.
“Eric Coomer, security director at the Colorado-based Dominion Voting Systems, said he wants his life back after being named in false charges as a key actor in ‘rigging’ the election for President-elect Joe Biden. There has been no evidence that the election was rigged, TPM continued.
“His lawsuit, filed Tuesday in district court in Denver County, Colorado, names the Trump campaign, lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, conservative columnist Michelle Malkin, the website Gateway Pundit, Colorado conservative activist Joseph Oltmann, and conservative media Newsmax and One America News Network. …
“Coomer told The Associated Press earlier this month that right-wing websites posted his photo, home address and details about his family. Death threats began almost immediately.”
Election deniers have accused Dominion’s voting machines of switching votes from Trump to Biden. That’s false. Powell, one of the defendants, and a key participant in recent White House discussions about “martial law,” didn’t even get Coomer’s employer straight. She said he worked for Smartmatic, another elections technology company that has been a target of wild and baseless conspiracy theories.
Both Fox and Newsmax began airing retractions of their on-air assertions after receiving legal notices from lawyers for Dominion and Smartmatic.
From the sounds of it, Coomer (photo, above right) has a good case for defamation, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress; likely can hold the defendants jointly and severally liable; and the damages could be pretty substantial.
I’m glad to see him, Dominion, and Smartmatic taking legal action against their tormenters and I hope other election officials and workers who’ve been threatened and harassed do the same. Rightwing bullying is out of control. There needs to be consequences for such behavior, and the victims deserve compensation. Those making physical threats should be identified, arrested, prosecuted, and given prison sentences. Meanwhile, maybe he should think about getting a gun for self-protection, too.
Finally, while American elections typically are contentious, this one brought forth a viciousness far exceeding anything I’ve seen before, and I’ve been around a long time. I think Trump is viewed by many of his followers as the last bulwark against a diversifying America and this election was white supremacy’s last stand. It’s certainly clear this is largely about racism. See, e.g., GOP Senate candidate Kelly Loeffler posing with a Ku Klux Klan leader (photo, left; read about it here); the dog whistle couldn’t be shriller.