A news anchor works at the Newsmax booth during the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The network settled with the voting technology company Smartmatic, which it accused of defamation after the 2020 presidential election. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images/AFP Hide caption
Toggle caption Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images/AFP
Once again, a voting technology company has settled a defamation lawsuit over false allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election before the trial even begins. This lawsuit is a lawsuit brought by Smartmatic USA against the conservative network Newsmax.
Thursday’s settlement came during the jury selection process. A four-week trial was scheduled to begin Monday in Delaware.
Neither side released details of the settlement.
Smartmatic said in an emailed statement that it is “very pleased that the lawsuit against Newsmax has been securely completed.” Smartmatic is now shifting gears to focus on related litigation against Fox News and Fox Corporation, according to a statement.
“There are consequences for lying to the American people,” the company said in a statement. “Smartmatic will not stop until the perpetrators are held accountable.”
Lawsuits stemming from the 2020 election continue
The lawsuit is just one in a series of lawsuits over false claims of fraud in the 2020 election. In 2023, on the eve of first arguments, Dominion Voting Systems settled its defamation lawsuit against Fox News for $787.5 million.
Dominion is also suing Newsmax in Delaware Superior Court, while Smartmatic is suing Fox News in New York.
Smartmatic also settled a similar lawsuit against One America News Network earlier this year. Details of the settlement will also be kept confidential.
Two libel cases handled by the same judge
The record size of Fox’s settlement underscores the gravity of the agency’s repeated false claims about Dominion. Presiding Judge Eric M. Davis had previously ruled that Fox News repeatedly and intentionally defamed Dominion before the settlement. The only question for the jury was to determine the amount of actual punitive damages.
Mr. Davis also oversaw the Smartmatic litigation against Newsmax. He previously ruled that Smartmatic could not seek punitive damages beyond the direct losses that could be shown as a result of the defamation. “There is no evidence that Newsmax acted with malicious intent toward Smartmatic,” the judge said.
Similar to Dominion’s lawsuit against Fox, Smartmatic’s lawsuit against Newsmax stems from false statements made by hosts, producers and guests in dozens of television segments in late 2020 linking the voting machine company to vote-switching conspiracy theories. was the main focus.
Smartmatic was only active in Los Angeles County during the 2020 election. There were no allegations of fraud there. Given California’s strong Democratic leanings, any influence could not have affected the broader outcome.
Guests and hosts on the network accepted claims that Smartmatic software flipped votes during that year’s election.
In a disturbing part, a Newsmax host rebroadcast a Fox News exchange amplifying conspiracy theories about election fraud promoted by President Trump’s legal adviser Sidney Powell. “I believe her, but the critics don’t,” Newsmax’s Greg Kelly told viewers. Powell was sanctioned by a federal judge in 2021 and later pleaded guilty to election interference in Georgia in 2023.
By late 2020, Newsmax began airing disclaimers saying there was no evidence linking Dominion or Smartmatic to vote manipulation and denying other related conspiracy theories. The following year, Dominion aired an apology and retraction of its claims after death threats were received by Dominion employees.
looming indictment
Newsmax denied in its lawsuit that it had committed any defamatory action against Smartmatic.
Still, further revelations of the defense strategy may have been embarrassing for Newsmax. At a daylong pretrial hearing earlier this month, lawyers for the station argued that part of the station’s litigation strategy was that the cable news channel’s producers realized that Smartmatic and Dominion were separate companies. suggested that it may have relied on the claim that it had not. . The legal brief also suggested that Newsmax’s on-air personalities are not subject to journalistic standards. This is because Newsmax’s guidelines prescribe its “writing” rather than its broadcasting.
There was also a legal battle over changes to estimates of Smartmatic’s value before Davis ruled out punitive damages. Lawyers acknowledged there was a “$1 billion variation” in the proposed valuation.
Smartmatic came under intense public scrutiny this summer after it was revealed that federal authorities had indicted several company officials, including the president, on bribery charges in the Philippines. Davis ruled that Newsmax would be allowed to introduce some evidence on that matter to its defense during the trial.
These developments make it even more likely that a trial will have a greater outcome than a settlement for Smartmatic. And they may also be involved in the New York trial against Fox.
“Smartmatic understandably chose to settle with Newsmax on the eve of trial after a series of major setbacks devastated the lawsuit,” a Fox News Media spokesperson said in a statement Thursday night. That’s true.” “Smartmatic’s claims against Fox are similarly undermined, unsupported by facts, and designed to chill First Amendment freedoms.”
The network said it looks forward to defending it in court.
