Former New York City mayor and Trump surrogate Rudy Giuliani faces another legal challenge in his ongoing series of election-related controversies.
According to Colorado Politics, Colorado's Court of Appeals ruled on Thursday that Eric Coomer, former director of product security and strategy at Dominion Voting Systems, can proceed with his defamation claim against Giuliani over unproven accusations of election rigging in the 2020 presidential race.
The three-judge panel's decision mirrors an earlier April ruling that allowed Coomer's defamation claims to move forward against multiple defendants, including Donald Trump's presidential campaign.
Giuliani's case was initially excluded from the previous decision due to his ongoing bankruptcy proceedings, which were triggered by a separate $146 million defamation judgment.
The case stems from allegations made by Colorado podcaster Joe Oltmann, who claimed he had listened to an "antifa" conference call where someone identified as "Eric ... the Dominion guy" supposedly made statements about ensuring Trump's defeat in the 2020 election.
Oltmann later concluded this person was Coomer, despite the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency finding no evidence of voting system manipulation.
During a November 19 press conference, Giuliani amplified these unproven accusations. Denver District Court Judge Marie Avery Moses found evidence suggesting Giuliani conducted a minimal investigation into the claims before repeating them publicly.
Judge Moses noted in her May 2022 ruling, as quoted by the court:
There is evidence that Giuliani's allegations against Coomer conformed to a preconceived storyline of fraud given his allegations of fraud after the election. Further, there is evidence that Giuliani had incentive to defame Coomer both in support of former president Trump and to maintain national attention.
The Court of Appeals rejected Giuliani's argument that his statements were protected under "litigation privilege" as a lawyer. Judge Karl L. Schock emphasized in the November 14 opinion that neither Giuliani nor the Trump campaign ever filed any lawsuits containing allegations about Coomer.
The appellate panel maintained its previous stance that while Coomer's defamation claims could proceed, there wasn't sufficient evidence to support conspiracy accusations. This resulted in the dismissal of that portion of the lawsuit.
Giuliani's legal troubles extend beyond this case, including disbarment in New York and Washington, D.C., criminal indictments in Arizona and Georgia, and the substantial defamation judgment against him in another election-related case.
The Colorado Court of Appeals' decision represents another significant development in the ongoing legal consequences stemming from the 2020 presidential election disputes. Eric Coomer's defamation claim against Rudy Giuliani will now move forward in Denver District Court, adding to the mounting legal challenges faced by the former mayor.
The case highlights the intersection of election integrity claims, public statements by political figures, and the legal system's role in addressing allegedly defamatory remarks. As this litigation proceeds, it joins numerous other cases examining the aftermath of the 2020 election and its impact on individuals and institutions involved in the electoral process.
