(NEW YORK) — Dominion Voting Systems on Tuesday morning filed three $1.6 billion defamation lawsuits against two pro-Trump media networks and an outspoken Trump ally, the latest in a string of suits from the company against those it says pushed false accusations that the company helped rig the 2020 election.

The complaints were filed against Newsmax and One America News Network, as well as against former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne, who is an outspoken supporter of the former president.

Newsmax and OAN “helped create and cultivate an alternate reality where up is down, pigs have wings, and Dominion engaged in a colossal fraud to steal the presidency from Donald Trump by rigging the vote,” Dominion wrote in each of its complaints against the two networks.

Specifically, Dominion alleges that two networks “manufactured, endorsed, repeated, and broadcast a series of verifiably false yet devastating lies about Dominion.” OAN, they allege, was motivated by a “quest for profits and viewers” in competition with leading conservative network Fox News. They say both outlets helped spread these lies by promoting other figures such as Byrne, who they say “pushed lies” in collaboration with “other Trump-connected individuals.

“Byrne continues to stick to his manufactured, inherently improbable, profitable, and demonstrable lies,” the complaint against him says.

The complaints include dozens of statements by the networks and Byrne repeating conspiracy theories about the company, and claiming “evidence” to back them up.

A Newsmax spokesperson said in a statement, “While Newsmax has not reviewed the Dominion filing, in its coverage of the 2020 Presidential elections, Newsmax simply reported on allegations made by well-known public figures, including the President, his advisors and members of Congress — Dominion’s action today is a clear attempt to squelch such reporting and undermine a free press.”

Earlier this year, however, Newsmax retracted some its reporting surrounding the 2020 election as part of a settlement after it was sued by a Dominion employee last year. Referring to allegations that Dominion had schemed to rig the election in favor of President Joe Biden, the network reported that it “subsequently found no evidence that such allegations were true.”

OAN and Byrne did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

Dominion’s latest complaints were filed in Delaware by the Denver-based voting company, which became the subject of false far-reaching conspiracy theories fueled largely by right-wing figures close to then-President Donald Trump as part of efforts to overturn the results of the election

Dominion has in recent months filed similar billion-dollar defamation suits against other Trump allies for what the company said was their role in pushing the false allegations, including Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney; Sidney Powell, a member of the Trump’s legal team who was later removed; and Mike Lindell, the Trump-aligned pillow magnate.

All of those parties have denied the allegations against them and have asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuits. Those motions are still pending.

The litigation comes amid a wave of renewed scrutiny of the 2020 election results, as Democrats in Congress have ramped up their investigation into the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6 by Trump supporters who believed the election was tainted by fraud, while Republicans in some states have renewed calls for additional audits of the 2020 returns.

After pushing baseless allegations of election fraud, Byrne was one of the key figures who helped fund a partisan audit of the 2020 election in Arizona’s Maricopa County, ABC News has previously reported.

Byrne, who previously said he’d been funding his own team of “hackers and cybersleuths and other people with odd skills” to search for voter fraud, has so far raised over $1.5 million to support the audit, according to the website created by his new nonprofit organization, The America Project. The former CEO also claims to have donated at least $500,000 of his own money to fund the audit.

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(WASHINGTON) — Fresh off one of the most expensive presidential elections in modern American history, wealthy donors from both sides of the aisle are already back pumping big checks into supporting Donald Trump and Joe Biden’s political efforts.

Campaign disclosure reports filed last week showed Team Trump’s aggressive post-White House fundraising efforts raising more than $50 million over the past six months, with more than $100 million on hand heading into the second half of the year. Trump’s post-election fundraising operation has mainly focused on small-dollar online contributions through his newly formed political action committee, Save America, and his presidential campaign committee-turned PAC, Make America Great Again PAC — both of which are limited by federal campaign regulations to contributions of $5,000 per person.

In comparison, Team Biden — which hasn’t been soliciting donations as aggressively or extensively as Trump’s multi-entity fundraising team and instead has mainly been raising money through his presidential campaign committee — reported bringing in $10 million in the first six months of the year, with $4.7 million on hand. Much of Biden’s campaign committee’s fundraising — limited by federal regulations to contributions of $2,800 per person — has also focused on small online donations.

As a result, contributions from wealthy donors who want to show bigger support are coming through outside entities like super PACs, which can solicit an unlimited amount of money from a single donor — unlike a presidential campaign or a regular PAC.

A newly formed pro-Trump super PAC, led by former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, took in more than $3 million in the two months since it started accepting donations, its first financial disclosure report shows.

The super PAC, called Make America Great Again Action (MAGA Action), received donations ranging from $5,000 to $1 million from three dozen donors between May 10 and June 30, after reportedly hosting a fundraising dinner at Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, with a price tag of $250,000 per person.

The $1 million donation came from Nevada-based businessman Don Ahern, who had fundraised for Trump during Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign. Waste management tycoon Anthony Lomangino, who had previously given big checks to Trump’s various fundraising committees during Trump’s presidency, also gave $500,000 to the super PAC.

Former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who was unseated by Democratic challenger Raphael Warnock last November, also wrote a $250,000 check to the super PAC, while MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, who has continued to push false claims of a rigged election, also gave $100,000 to the group.

The MAGA Action committee is reportedly going to serve as the main pro-Trump super PAC in his post-White House era, a role that another super PAC, America First Action, had played during his time in office. America First donated an additional $1.8 million in monetary and in-kind contributions to MAGA Action during the first half of this year, according to its disclosure report.

MAGA Action has already begun supporting pro-Trump political efforts, spending more than $417,000 to support coal industry lobbyist Mike Carey in a GOP special election primary in Ohio’s House race. Carey, who was endorsed by Trump, won the primary last week.

Biden’s big-dollar supporters are already in action as well, writing five-figure and six-figure checks to super PACs that have been supporting his campaign and political efforts, according to disclosures.

Unite the Country, a super PAC formed last year with the main purpose of supporting Biden during the 2020 presidential election, brought in just over $1 million from a handful of big and small donors in the first half of this year.

Major labor unions were among Unite the Country’s biggest donors, with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers PAC contributing $500,000, the Amalgamated Transit Union’s super PAC giving $250,000, and the ironworker union’s PAC contributing $100,000.

Wayfair CEO Niraj Shah also contributed $95,000, while several attorneys made five-figure donations.

The American Bridge 21st Century PAC, another major Democratic super PAC that backed Biden during the 2020 election and is also involved in numerous other pro-Democratic political efforts, reported taking in nearly $9 million already this year. Among the big checks the organization received was $2 million from Lone Pine Capital partner Stephen Mandel and $1 million from Sequoia Capital partner Michael Moritz, disclosure filings show.

Unite the Country and American Bridge have yet to report any 2021 expenditures supporting specific candidates, but they have reported other advertising, fundraising and consulting expenditures.

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(NEW YORK) — If impeachment proceedings against embattled New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo were to take place, the process would likely begin in early September, according to a tentative hearing schedule set by state lawmakers.

The New York State Assembly Judiciary Committee said it will hold hearings through the remainder of the month to review evidence against Cuomo, as well as hear expert testimony surrounding sexual harassment and the standards for impeachment.

“These sessions will conclude with the potential for a vote on articles of impeachment if necessary and appropriate,” the committee’s chairman, Charles Lavine, said Monday.

A report released by State Attorney General Letitia James last week found that Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women, including current and former state employees. In at least one instance, the investigation determined that the governor sought to retaliate against a woman who leveled accusations against him.

Cuomo has denied all allegations of sexual misconduct or harassment.

Lavine said Cuomo has until Friday to submit exculpatory evidence which he promised the committee would consider.

“The governor has clearly lost the confidence of the majority members,” Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said Monday, reiterating what he said last week in the wake of the state attorney general’s report being released.

“Our goal is to bring the matter to a close with all haste,” Heastie added.

The impeachment investigation includes the sexual harassment allegations and allegations the governor inappropriately used state resources to write a book, as well as further concerns raised surrounding COVID-19 and nursing homes and accusations that Cuomo provided preferential access to COVID-19 testing to friends and relatives, according to Lavine.

“Just on the nursing home question alone there are a half million pages of documentation,” Lavine said in noting the volume of evidence.

On Aug. 16 and Aug. 23, outside counsel is set to update investigative findings and the Judiciary Committee members will review the evidence in a secure environment. After Aug. 23, public hearings for expert testimony on sexual assault and harassment and on the impeachment process itself are set to take place. The committee will then issue a recommendation on whether the Assembly should approve articles of impeachment.

If the governor resigns beforehand, Lavine conceded “impeachment would be moot” but said there is a procedure to establish a prohibition on Cuomo that prevents him from holding elective office in the state.

Earlier Monday, Lavine called the findings of the state attorney general’s report “deeply disturbing” as he ushered the committee into executive session to discuss next steps in the impeachment investigation.

“We commend the attorney general on her work and her agreement to provide relevant materials to this committee,” Lavine said. “The findings, the content, of the report are deeply disturbing.”

If impeachment proceedings are initiated, it would mark the first impeachment of a New York governor in more than a century.

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