The Florida federal court did not find that Dominion machines rigged the 2020 election, nor did it endorse Byrne’s broader claims as proven fact. On October 27, 2026, Judge Thomas P. Barber granted Patrick Byrne’s motion for summary judgment in Coomer v. Byrne and directed entry of final judgment for Byrne, closing the case before the November trial term. The suit, transferred from Colorado, centered on Byrne’s role in the film The Deep Rig and related statements repeating Joseph Oltmann’s allegations that Coomer, then a Dominion executive, had participated in an Antifa conference call and indicated he would ensure President Trump’s defeat. Discovery had already occurred; the court reviewed the record and the film itself.

Under the governing Colorado standard for statements on matters of public concern, Coomer bore the burden of proving actual malice by clear and convincing evidence—that Byrne subjectively knew the challenged statements were false or entertained serious doubts about their truth. The court held that Coomer’s evidence fell short of that demanding threshold. It observed that people may hold sincere or even zealous beliefs that prove untrue and cause harm, yet the law imposes no liability absent proof of subjective awareness of falsity. The judge noted that, absent the clear-and-convincing requirement, the case likely would have reached a jury; under existing doctrine, however, summary judgment for Byrne was required. Related claims for civil conspiracy and intentional infliction of emotional distress failed with the defamation count.

The abrupt end means there will be no public trial in which Byrne’s evidence on Dominion equipment, adjudication features, or related vulnerabilities receives courtroom examination or cross-examination. Pretrial filings were already underway, and a conference had been set for late October, but the ruling terminated pending deadlines. The decision turns on the high bar of actual malice rather than a determination of the underlying accuracy of election-system claims; that distinction leaves the factual disputes about 2020 machinery unresolved in this litigation while shielding Byrne from liability. Other Coomer defamation suits continue elsewhere, but this one is finished.

Additional ADNN Articles: 

Declassified Proof: Voting Machines Exposed to Foreign Manipulation
Dominion’s Coomer Admits Foreign Meddling; FBI Raids Expose 2020 Coverup
Judge Rules Trump DOJ Can Keep 600+ Seized Fulton County Ballots
Blanche: Unarmed Monitors Return; The Old Frauds Will Not.