all ballots cast in the presidential audit.9 The hand audit, which relied exclusively on the
printed text on the ballot-marking device, or bubbled-in the choice of the absentee
ballot, confirmed the results of the election with a zero percent risk limit. Respondent’s
statement that the vote count was inaccurate, without referencing the hand audits, was
misleading. By law, this audit was required to take place following the election and be
completed no later than December 31, 2020 (Ga Ann § 21-2-498). Respondent’s
statements were made while the hand audit was proceeding and after it concluded. We
understand that Dominion has sued respondent for defamation in connection with his
claims about their voting machines (Complaint, US Dominion, Inc. v Giuliani, 1:21-cv-
00213, US District Court, District of Columbia [Washington], January 25, 2021).
Consequently, we do not reach the issue of whether respondent’s claims about the
Dominion voting machines were false, nor do we need to.
statements about the results of the Georgia election count are false. Respondent
provides no basis in this record for disputing the hand count audit. Respondent made
these statements at least on December 3, 2020 when appearing before the Georgia
Legislature’s Senate Judiciary Committee, during a December 6, 2020 episode of the
radio show Uncovering the Truth, during a December 22, 2020 episode of his radio
show Chat with the Mayor, he alluded to it in a December 27, 2020 episode of
9 In this motion, because the AGC only relies on the audit referred to in the Georgia Secretary of State’s January 6, 2021 letter to Congress, we only consider this one audit. Georgia’s election results were, however, actually audited three times, and no evidence of widespread fraud was discovered (Daniel Funke, Fact check: No evidence of fraud in Georgia election results (June 1, 2021), https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/06/01/fact-check-georgia- audit-hasnt-found-30-000-fake-ballots/5253184001/ [last accessed June 12, 2021]).
In view of the hand counts conducted in Georgia, we find that respondent’s
17
Source: Elections - nytimes.com