From Hiding, Dominion Employee Eric Coomer Files Defamation Suit

The Dominion Voting Systems employee who went into hiding after social media users placed a $1 million bounty on his head has made a virtual appearance in the courts — and his 52-page lawsuit filed December 22 in Denver District Court targets President Donald Trump’s campaign, multiple media outlets, former Trump attorney Sidney Powell and an outspoken Castle Pines businessman, among other defendants.

Eric Coomer works as director of product security and strategy for Dominion Voting Systems, the Denver-based company that's been the subject of nationwide scrutiny amid rumors that it rigged the election in favor of President-elect Joseph Biden. Although everyone from Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency officials to outgoing U.S. Attorney General William Barr has said that there is no evidence of widespread, election-altering fraud (and Dominion has repeatedly debunked the allegations on its "Setting the Record Straight" website page), the rumors continue.

One of the odder claims involves Coomer, and alleges that prior to the 2020 election, the Colorado man participated in a call with Antifa activists and told them he had made sure Trump would not win the election.

Coomer denied the allegation in an opinion piece published in the Denver Post earlier this month: “All claims that someone recorded me on a call, or even overheard me saying, ‘Don’t worry about the election, Trump’s not gonna win. I made (expletive) sure of that!’ are wholly fabricated,” he said. “Moreover, I do not have the capability to do such a thing. I have not written a single line of code in the Dominion Voting Systems product. These fabrications and attacks against me have upended my life, forced me to flee my home, and caused my family and loved ones to fear for my safety, and I fear for theirs.”

Coomer’s lawsuit focuses heavily on Castle Pines’s Joe Oltmann, the CEO of PIN Business Network, co-host of the Conservative Daily podcast, co-founder of the nonprofit FEC United, and the man who claimed he infiltrated a call in September where a man referred to as “Eric” and “the Dominion guy” said he'd fixed the election. On talk shows hosted by Michelle Malkin and Eric Metaxas, Oltmann identified the speaker as Eric Coomer.

According to the lawsuit, the talk shows where Oltmann made these statements have tens of thousands of followers, and the rumors spread even further when members of Trump’s campaign started using Coomer’s name in press conferences and media appearances. The suit quotes Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, as saying, “By the way, the Coomer character, who is close to Antifa, took off all of his social media, haha, but we kept it. The man is a vicious, vicious man. And, he specifically says, that they are going to fix this election.”

The suit includes a tweet from Eric Trump that reiterates the unsubstantiated claim that Coomer said he had rigged the election against Trump, and notes that former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell said she had a copy of the Antifa call. (Dominion, which is not listed as a plaintiff in Coomer's suit, has demanded that Powell retract other "defamatory falsehoods.")

On Malkin’s show, Oltmann also shared 2016 Facebook posts from Coomer’s private page that included statements like “If you are planning to vote for that autocratic, narcissistic, fascist ass-hat blowhard and his christian jihadist VIP pic UNFRIEND ME NOW!”

According to the lawsuit, Coomer "shared political views and was critical of President Trump. He shared satire, that Oltmann intentionally disregarded and held out as true. None of it was public. It is unclear how Oltmann came into possession of it. Under the First Amendment to the Constitution, he is entitled to his political opinion.”

Coomer “was forced to flee his home in response to the credible threats he has been receiving and continues to receive,” the lawsuit notes, pointing to multiple vitriolic social media threats calling for Coomer to be killed. “He has had to sever ties with friends and family members in order to stay in seclusion.”

The suit suggests that statements from the defendants — including Oltmann saying “I think the treason is punishable by death” and “share Eric’s name” — have encouraged these threats. Coomer is seeking damages, as well as an order for the defendants to remove and retract their defamatory statements.

Oltmann didn't get to say anything about Coomer or Dominion at the Legislative Audit Committee hearing about the elections held at the Colorado Capitol last week; Oltmann says he was invited to speak, but was removed from the building when a reporter complained about tweets that Oltmann had COVID-19.

“The type of problem we’re dealing with at Dominion is that there’s no transparency,” Oltmann later told Westword. “I am the CEO of a data company, and as a result of that, I have pretty good knowledge of what code has the ability to do and does not have the ability to do. From a mathematical perspective, there are huge issues with the elections, even the ones that happened here in Colorado, things that can’t be explained away by just simple irregularities.”

Now Oltmann is doing some explaining of his own on social media.

"Yes, I heard about the lawsuit,” Oltmann's December 23 post begins. “I want everyone to know a couple things. One, the truth is a great equalizer. I knew the road would be rough when I came forward. Now, with 24/7 security on my family and the evil of the bully pulpit at my face, I would still make the same decision. I will need lots of help in this fight, so stay tuned. Know that God is at the wheel. It’s not the path I would have ever chosen for myself, but here we are.”

Coomer is still in hiding, but gave an interview to the Arkansas Valley News; read it and see a video here. His complaint is below: