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- Dominion's CEO broke down during a news conference where Rudy Giuliani spread conspiracy theories about the company, according to the New York Times.
- John Poulos told the Times he yelled so loudly that his wife and two children came to check on him.
- A federal judge recently threw out a motion to dismiss Dominion's defamation lawsuit against Giuliani.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
The head of Dominion Voting Systems broke down in hysterics during a news conference where Rudy Giuliani spread conspiracy theories that the company manipulated election results as hair dye sweated down the side of his face, according to the New York Times.
CEO John Poulos told the Times that he yelled so loudly that his wife and two children came to check on him in his home office and found him crying uncontrollably.
"Oh, my God!" he screamed. "I can't believe what's going on!"
He told the newspaper that his teenage children had never seen him emotional about his work and stared at him in shock.
Giuliani held the press conference on November 19, 2020, with lawyer and former federal prosecutor Sydney Powell. Both of them spouted misinformation and conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, baselessly claiming that "communist money through Venezuela, Cuba and likely China" had a "massive" influence on Dominion's operations and that the company played a role in switching votes from former President Donald Trump to Joe Biden.
During the press conference, Giuliani began to sweat, causing a line of dark liquid to run from his hairline down both sides of his face that inspireda slew of memes mocking the former mayor of New York.
-Matt Gaetz’ Liver 🍸 (@MattGaetzLiver) November 19, 2020
-Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) November 19, 2020
Poulos told the Times that he felt sympathy for people watching the press conference who were upset that Trump had lost the 2020 election, because they would be eager to believe misinformation that validated their frustration. But he told the newspaper he was outraged at Giuliani and Powell for willingly spreading conspiracy theories.
Poulos said he felt watching the press conference the same way many people felt watching the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol, for which at least 615 people now face charges.
"It was an assault on democracy," Poulos said.
Eric Coomer, the former director of product strategy and security at Dominion, told the Times he began "sweating and shaking" and thought he might throw up while watching the news conference. Powell had claimed there was a record of Coomer on an "antifa" phone call, which Coomer has adamantly denied. Giuliani also called Coomer a "vicious, vicious man" who wrote "horrible things about the President," referencing two Facebook posts Coomer made calling Trump "autocratic" and "narcissistic."
A federal judge recently rejected motions to throw out defamation lawsuits Dominion filed against Guiliani, Powell, and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell seeking $1.3 billion in damages.
Coomer has also brought a defamation suit against Joe Oltmann, a Colorado businessman who claimed to have "intercepted" an antifa phone call that included Coomer on The Conservative Daily Podcast. That suit lists Guiliani, Powell, and the Trump campaign among 14 defendants.