Sidney Powell wants to have it both ways.
In a court filing on Monday, her lawyers asserted that “no reasonable person would conclude” that Powell’s statements about the 2020 presidential election were “truly statements of fact.” Powell has been sued for defamation by Dominion Voting Systems Inc, a voting software company that she asserts worked with foreign actors to steal the presidency from Donald Trump.
But on Tuesday night, the right-wing provocateur offered a head-spinning explanation of her legal defense. On messaging app Telegram, she wrote, “The #FakeNews is lying to everyone about our filings in the Dominion case. My position has not changed. We will be taking them to the mat.”
Far from “taking them to the mat,” Powell’s court filing sought a dismissal of all charges against her.
(It’s tempting to call Powell’s legal machinations and her social media message to her supporters contradictory. But perhaps Powell thinks she’s still communicating with unreasonable people. She has nearly 500,000 followers on Telegram.)
Dominion is seeking 1.3 billion dollars in damages, claiming Powell’s post-election conduct created “irreparable harm” to the company. Indeed, Powell has never provided bonafide evidence to support her outlandish claims, which can easily be debunked.
Meanwhile, her disinformation campaign about the 2020 election continues. On Monday, Powell posted a screenshot on Telegram of what appears to be a Georgia election worker confessing to malfeasance that benefited Joe Biden. But even the laziest investigator would have uncovered that the confession was a fake. The Instagram account that posted it was labeled “parody.” It has since been deleted.
Powell is among a group of diehard “Stop the Steal” propagandists – most with extensive ties to the Trump administration – that have been sued by Dominion. Other include Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Lin Wood and pillow magnet Mike Lindell.
