Indicted RNC ‘election integrity’ official accused of dodging deposition in 2020 election defamation case
By Marshall Cohen, CNN
(CNN) — Christina Bobb, the indicted RNC official and former One America News host, is dodging a deposition in a 2020-related defamation lawsuit, according to Dominion Voting Systems, which is battling her in court.
Bobb’s attorneys previously argued that the Dominion defamation lawsuit, and the routine deposition they are seeking, should be paused in the wake of her indictment in Arizona on charges related to her role in the Trump campaign’s fake electors plot. She denies wrongdoing in both cases.
Lawyers for Dominion told a judge Monday that the defamation case should move forward and that they can tailor document requests and deposition questions to steer clear of the specific Arizona allegations.
“Any deposition of Ms. Bobb, could and likely would impair Ms. Bobb’s Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, extend criminal discovery beyond the limits set forth by Arizona law, potentially expose Ms. Bobb’s theory to the prosecution in advance of trial, and otherwise prejudice her criminal case,” Bobb’s criminal attorney in the Arizona case, Thomas Jacobs, said in a past court filing.
The voting technology firm sued Bobb and the far-right cable network OAN in 2021, as well as other Trump allies and right-wing outlets that peddled lies about the election. Lawyers for Dominion said a filing Monday that Bobb’s lawyers didn’t answer their emails in March and May when they tried to schedule Bobb’s deposition.
“Bobb has not produced a single document in this litigation, and simply ignored Dominion’s attempts to schedule a date for her deposition, including attempts made well before the Arizona indictment,” Dominion lawyers wrote, urging the judge in the DC-based case to order Bobb to sit for a deposition.
After then-President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, Bobb used her on-air role at OAN to repeatedly promote baseless conspiracy theories about the results being rigged, including by Dominion software. At the same time, she also worked closely with Trump’s lawyers and allies to subvert the results in several battleground states that he lost by organizing illegitimate slates of Republican electors.
After a shakeup at the RNC earlier this year, Bobb and other Trump loyalists assumed top leadership posts, with Bobb focusing on so-called “election integrity” efforts. These efforts include new lawsuits aimed at tightening the rules regarding mail-in ballots and restricting the availability of ballot drop boxes.
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