Sidney Powell's defense in defamation suit could put her in legal jeopardy
By Ariane de Vogue, CNN Supreme Court Reporter 18 hrs ago
Sidney Powell, President Donald Trump's former lawyer, filed an eye-popping brief this week that could potentially doom her chances of dismissing a $1.3 billion defamation suit and provide ammunition in a separate lawsuit seeking her disbarment.
Powell, who repeatedly pressed unfounded claims of voter fraud on the airwaves and in court, now says that "reasonable" people would not accept her statements as "fact" because the legal process hadn't yet played out. It was a stunning admission from a woman who served for a time as one of Trump's top legal lieutenants.
It could also put her in real legal jeopardy as she fights the defamation suit brought by Dominion Voting Systems -- a manufacturer that provides election equipment used by more than 40% of US voters -- as well as a motion for sanctions in Michigan as a part of a case she brought there alleging election fraud.
First Amendment expert Ted Boutrous of Gibson Dunn said that the legal implications for Powell could be dire.
"The First Amendment provides strong protections for statements of opinion," he said. "But what Dominion is pointing to is the fact that Ms. Powell was declaring that she had evidence of this fraud and this election malfeasance and she was declaring that as a matter of fact."
"The First Amendment doesn't protect knowingly false statements of fact," Boutrous added.
In the two cases, both still pending, her lawyers appear to contradict each other. In the defamation case filed by Dominion, her lawyers claim in a motion to dismiss that what Powell said about voting issues could not reasonably be established as fact at the time she said it. In the Michigan case her lawyer calls allegations that she lied "outrageous" and "entirely unacceptable."
"It's official, Sidney Powell is a massive fraud -- that's according to Sidney Powell herself," CNN legal analyst Elie Honig said about the new filing.
Powell responded to reports in a statement issued Wednesday. "The #FakeNews is lying to everyone about our filing" in the Dominion case.
Powell attorney Howard Kleinhendler issued a further comment about the Dominion lawsuit. "First, let me be clear: any suggestion that 'no reasonable person' would believe Ms. Powell or her comments on the election is false," he said. "The language these reports referred to is a legal standard adopted by the courts to determine whether statements qualify as opinions which are exempt from defamation liability."
READ MORE: Sidney Powell's defense in defamation suit could put her in legal jeopard
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Posted By: Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
Thursday, March 25th 2021 at 11:08AM
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