As 9NEWS’ Marissa Solomon reports, the defamation case against sometimes-local election conspiracy theorist Joe “America’s Hangman” Oltmann brought by Eric Coomer formerly with Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems is grinding closer to the day when it finally appears Oltmann will have to admit, after years of blowharding to the contrary, that he fabricated the story of an “Antifa conference call” in which Coomer supposedly promised his company would throw the election to Joe Biden.
After Oltmann fled a deposition in June rather than answer the essential questions about his story, which has served as the principal basis of the entire Dominion Voting conspiracy theory seized upon by Donald Trump’s losing 2020 presidential campaign to claim the election was stolen, a judge has ordered Oltmann to pay a fine of $1,000 per day until he either shows evidence to back up his allegations or (more likely) finally admits there isn’t any:
In November 2020, Oltmann claimed to have heard an “Antifa conference call” where an employee of Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems suggested the election was rigged in favor of Joe Biden.
“I think this is a conspiracy to commit fraud against the American people,” Oltmann told KNUS host Peter Boyles on Nov. 18. “This is a massive, massive, massive putting your finger on the scales of the election.”
Oltmann hasn’t provided evidence to back up the accusation, despite being subpoenaed in Denver District Court.
Oltmann has repeatedly refused to submit evidence to the court, specifically communications with the person only known as “RD” who Oltmann claims gave him access to the “Antifa call,” and the identity of the person who gave Oltmann access to Coomer’s private Facebook account.
After all the effort and hundreds of millions of dollars spent getting to the bottom of these defamatory falsehoods against Dominion Voting Systems, we’re willing to assert without further evidence either way that there was no “Antifa conference call” in which Eric Coomer promised to steal the election from Trump. It was all made up. Rather than simply admitting that this was all made up, Oltmann has retreated into the unquestioning ecosystem of his fellow election onspiracy theorists, fully embraced by Trump’s re-election campaign–and escalating his “resistance” to the legal process to distract from his inability to substantiate any of his allegations. In court, Oltmann’s attorneys have even made the argument that he could be “delusional” and therefore not liable for defamation.
As of yesterday, Oltmann’s maintenance of the fiction Donald Trump’s “Big Lie” depends on just acquired a hefty price tag.
Sometimes that’s the only way the truth shakes loose.
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This is exactly how the courts and the law should engage with the kind of people like Oltman, FOX News, and Trump. Courts should impose orders and defamed individuals and companies should bring lawsuit after lawsuit until these so called conservatives understand that their financial well being is tied to telling the truth.
What happens when Oltmann doesn’t pay? I can’t imagine he would actually pay these fines.
I’m curious how long we have to wait until Joe “Willful Disregard for the Authority of the Court” Oltmann gets arrested and jailed for not paying these fines.
Under remedial contempt, the court can jail him until he complies (i.e., pays up). If the court wants to hold him in punitive contempt, then it has to try him for contempt, and if he's found guilty the court can impose a jail sentence.
Thanks!
The judge ordered attorney fees plus $1,000 a day. Nonpayment would in all likelihood trigger further punishment — probably a finding of contempt and a sentence of incarceration until Oltmann complies. I believe there is one other remedy … the judge could issue a summary judgment on the defamation claim. That is what happened in Wisconsin for one of the Sandy Hook defamation cases.
Since I've not heard that Oltmann is on the RT / Tenet payroll for his podcasts, I suspect he doesn't have an income stream to simply absorb the costs. Next steps ought to be interesting.
$1,000 a day adds up. Definitely more than a six pack or can of chew addiction.
You would think that if they had "ANY" proof at all then they would produce it and show the world exactly what happened. The fact that they haven't produced anything suggests that they've got nothing and don't want to be held liable for their dishonesty.
I wish this would happen more often. These people do nothing but churn out lies and cause harm.