Dominion lawyer says the voting technology company is 'still exploring' whether to sue Trump over election lies

• Dominion is still deciding whether to sue Donald Trump over election conspiracy theories, a lawyer for the company said.
• Trump has baselessly accused the voting software company of manipulating election results.
• The former president hasn't openly criticized the company since the January 6 insurrection.

Dominion Voting Systems is still weighing whether to bring a defamation lawsuit against former president Donald Trump over election conspiracy theories, an attorney for the company said Tuesday.

"Dominion continues to take an evidence-based approach to investigating other participants in the campaign of lies dating all the way back to last November," attorney Stephen Shackelford told Insider at a press conference.

The election technology company filed three lawsuits Tuesday morning against the right-wing media organizations One America News and Newsmax. It has also sued two employees of OAN, as well as former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne.

Alleging billions of dollars in damages, Dominion said the defendants perpetuated false conspiracy theories claiming the company rigged the 2020 election against Trump and in favor of now-President Joe Biden.

Tuesday's lawsuits include some mention of Trump's behavior, including his relationship to OAN, which openly championed his false statements about the 2020 election. As the lawsuit against OAN notes, Trump praised the media organization for its support of an ongoing "audit" in an Arizona county that has baselessly cast doubt on the state's election results.

Trump has not directly criticized Dominion since the January 6 insurrection, according to an archive of his public statements. In a speech to his supporters moments before many of them stormed the US Capitol, he falsely claimed the company's machines erroneously tabulated votes in Georgia.

Trump also pushed false theories about Dominion in a phone call to Georgia's secretary of state, which is now the subject of a state-level criminal investigation, and in numerous rallies and media interviews following his election loss in November.

Asked directly if Dominion would sue Trump, Shackelford, an attorney at Susman Godfrey LLP, told Insider that the company has not ruled it out.

"We are still exploring options as to how to hold other participants in the campaign of lies against Dominion to account," Shackelford said.

Dominion CEO John Poulos said earlier this year the company was exploring whether to sue Trump. Asked about it Tuesday, he referred the question to Shackelford.

Shackleford said waiting until August to file lawsuits against Newsmax, OAN, and Byrne for conspiracy theories related to the November 2020 election showed how careful Dominion was in filing Tuesday's lawsuits, which collectively run to around 400 pages.

"Dominion has been unfortunately forced to spend a considerable amount of time and money carefully researching and managing the lawsuits," Shackelford said. "We do our due diligence and we file when we're ready. We file these lawsuits today to hold these particular defendants accountable as Dominion continues to suffer from these lies."

The Department of Homeland Security says election fraud conspiracy theories have led to an increase in violent threats.

Poulos said Tuesday that someone recently threw a brick through the window of one of Dominion's offices, and that the company's employees continue to receive death threats that began around the time of the 2020 election.

The company also said in its lawsuit against OAN that at least one landlord has declined to discuss leasing an office to the company, "citing security concerns relating to the election lies."

Tuesday's lawsuits join previous ones the company filed against Fox News, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, and former Trump lawyers Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani. All of the defendants have asked judges to dismiss those lawsuits in motions that remain pending.

Smartmatic, a rival election technology company also falsely implicated in election conspiracy theories, has sued Fox News, Giuliani, and Powell in pending litigation.