Newsmax apologizes to Dominion head for saying he manipulated voting system in 2020 election
The conservative news outlet says they regret accusing the voting machines company of fraudulent activity
Eric Coomer and his family were doxxed and getting death threats, all because of his job. The director of security for Dominion Voting Systems was targeted by right-wing activists who said the company was manipulating votes to ensure the election of President Joe Biden. The conservative cable news outlet Newsmax was one of the company’s main accusers.
As reported by NBC News, the company is now saying sorry after Coomer and Dominion countered with numerous defamation lawsuits.
“Newsmax would like to clarify its coverage of Dr. Coomer and note that while Newsmax initially covered claims by President Trump’s lawyers, supporters, and others that Dr. Coomer played a role in manipulating Dominion voting machines, Dominion voting software, and the final vote counts in the 2020 presidential election, Newsmax subsequently found no evidence that such allegations were true,” a statement, which was posted to Newsmax’s website and will be read on its cable channel, read.
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“Many of the states whose results were contested by the Trump campaign after the November 2020 election have conducted extensive recounts and audits,” the statement continued, “and each of these states certified the results as legal and final.”
Since the public apology, Coomer has dropped Newsmax from his defamation lawsuit. The current suit names the Trump campaign, Trump’s former lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, another conservative outlet, One America News Network, among others.
The lawsuit, filed in Denver County, Colorado, is pending.
Dominion has filed multiple federal defamation lawsuits against defendants including Fox News, Trump supporter Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow, Giuliani, and Powell. They are seeking billions of dollars in compensation. The company’s CEO, John Poulos said in March, per NBC News, that Fox News impaired its business.
“[They] caused us severe damage and undermined trust in American democratic institutions,” Poulos said on March 26 in a statement.
All of the stated defendants vowed to fight the lawsuit, with Lindell, who has been banned from Twitter, saying he appreciates the ability to respond as the lawsuit “gives him a voice.” Powell’s defense is that no one took her claims seriously anyway.
Fox News vowed to fight the Dominion lawsuits and has the big pockets to do so.
“FOX News Media is proud of our 2020 election coverage, which stands in the highest tradition of American journalism, and will vigorously defend against this baseless lawsuit in court,” a Fox spokesperson said in March.
Coomer said that he found the campaign against him and his family “terrifying.”
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In their apology, Newsmax said that they now believe they were wrong in making any accusations in the first place.
“Newsmax has found no evidence that Dr. Coomer interfered with Dominion voting machines or voting software in any way, nor that Dr. Coomer ever claimed to have done so,” the statement concluded. “Nor has Newsmax found any evidence that Dr. Coomer ever participated in any conversation with members of ‘Antifa,’ nor that he was directly involved with any partisan political organization.”
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