Conservative activist Joe Oltmann fined $1,000 a day until he discloses evidence to court

Colorado conservative activist Joe Oltmann owes a former Dominion Voting Systems employee $1,000 a day, starting Wednesday, for as long as he continues to withhold evidence of his claims of election rigging.

Oltmann is named as a non-party in a defamation suit filed by Eric Coomer, who was the former director of product security and strategy for Dominion Voting Systems. Apart from this filing, Coomer is suing Oltmann in a defamation and conspiracy lawsuit for claims he made back in 2020.

These claims, made almost four years ago, came in the days following the 2020 election between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump .

USA TODAY contacted Oltmann for comment, who did not immediately respond.

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An “Antifa conference call”

According to court documents, Oltmann made claims in November 2020 that he heard an “Antifa conference call” where an employee of Dominion Voting Systems suggested the election was rigged in Biden’s favor.

Despite being subpoenaed back in February, Oltmann has yet to provide any evidence to back up the 2020 accusation.

Court documents say that Oltmann has repeatedly refused to submit evidence to the court, the evidence he has not handed over related to communications with a person only known as “RD” in records who Oltmann claims gave him access to the “Antifa call.”

Oltmann has also refused to give up the identity of the person who gave him access to Coomer’s private Facebook account.

Oltmann leaves courthouse during deposition

In a deposition held June 6, Oltmann was asked to appear at a deposition by the U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathryn A. Starnella.

According to court documents, Oltmann left the courthouse during the deposition and is now facing the expensive repercussions.

An expensive ordeal

On Wednesday, the judge in the case, William J. Martinez, ordered that Oltmann has to pay the attorney’s fees and costs that Coomer incurred as a result of the noncompliance with the judge’s orders to present evidence against Oltmann.

Apart from these fines, court records show that Oltmann also has to pay Coomer $1,000 a day beginning Wednesday until he complies with the orders “fully and in good faith.” Initially, a fine of only $300 a day was suggested, but the court decided that this “will not likely get Oltmann’s full and complete attention.”

“Oltmann has repeatedly flouted orders—not only in this case, but in others as well—requiring him to answer questions pertaining to who gave him access to the alleged 'Antifa call' and Coomer’s private Facebook account,” according to court records.

The court also said that apart from ignoring court orders, Oltmann boasted about it on his podcast. The show, a far-right daily talk show focused on election rigging claims, has also featured Oltmann repeatedly suggesting that his perceived political opponents should be executed.

“Oltmann explicitly acknowledged during his deposition and his podcast later that day that he knew about the orders but refused to comply with them, even though he was aware he might be jailed for his noncompliance,” court documents say.

According to court documents, Oltmann called the orders from the court “lawfare” and “weapon[ized].”

Apart from this lawsuit, Coomer has also sued Donald J. Trump for President, Inc., One America News Network (OANN), Newsmax Media, the attorneys Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani and the conservative political commentator Michelle Malkin for defamation.

Who is Joe Oltmann?

Oltmann is a conservative podcaster and political activist based in the Colorado area. He has been involved in recent years with FEC United, a political organization that has been involved in the "Stop the Steal" campaign regarding falsehoods that Trump won the 2020 election.

In these efforts, he was also involved in the 2022 elections, when he among other conservative activists stated a protest outside the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix to protest the results of the midterm elections. Apart from these, also in Arizona, he staged a protest against the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, and spoke against the certification of the results in the county.

Maricopa County is the largest county in Arizona and within its borders is Phoenix, the largest city in the state with the largest vote share in the state.

Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Conservative activist Joe Oltmann fined $1,000 a day until he discloses evidence to court