Newsmax Settles with Smartmatic Over Defamation Claims

The two entities had been set to go to trial over the election vendor’s grievance claims.

Newsmax, the Trump-happy news broadcasting network accused of spreading the former President’s addled 2020 election conspiracy theories, has agreed to settle its defamation case with Smartmatic, one of the voting machine vendors that figured prominently in said conspiracy theories. It’s not yet clear what the terms of the settlement are, or how much money is involved. One thing’s for sure: the last minute agreement avoids a trial, which would have been potentially disastrous for the news network. CNN reports that the decision to settle came only hours after jury selection began in Wilmington, Delaware. Smartmatic had originally sued Newsmax, along with One America News Network, in 2021, accusing the company of maligning its reputation by platforming baseless claims that it had helped rig vote tallies in 2020 to help Joe Biden win the presidential election. “We are very pleased to have secured the completion of the case against Newsmax,” reads a statement shared on Smartmatic’s website. We are now looking forward to our court day against Fox Corp and Fox News for their disinformation campaign. Lying to the American people has consequences. Smartmatic will not stop until the perpetrators are held accountable.” On its website, Newsmax published a statement Thursday merely claiming it was “pleased to announce it has resolved the litigation brought by Smartmatic through a confidential settlement.” Gizmodo reached out to both Newsmax and Smartmatic for more details. Fox News had its own thoughts on Thursday’s legal resoluation. That’s because Fox is also currently being sued by Smartmatic. The conservative news network reached out to Gizmodo with its own commentary on the settlement. It reads: “Smartmatic unsurprisingly chose to settle its case with Newsmax on the eve of trial after a series of major setbacks devastated its case. Those setbacks included: the fact that Smartmatic’s President and Co-Founder, as well as one current and one former executive, were federally indicted for bribery in obtaining key businesses in the Philippines; Smartmatic was forced to cut its damage claims from $1.7 billion to $370 million to avoid evidence of those indictments; and the Delaware Judge ruled that Smartmatic could not recover punitive damages. Smartmatic’s claims against Fox are similarly impaired, unsupported by the facts and intended to chill First Amendment freedoms. We look forward to defending this case when it goes to trial.” It is true that Smartmatic’s litigation effort had suffered some recent setbacks. CNN notes that while the company originally accused Newsmax of costing it billions of dollars in reputational damage, like Fox said, the damages claim was ultimately reduced to some $370 million. It’s also true that Smartmatic executives were recently indicted on bribery charges allegedly linked to potential contracts in the Philippines. It’s unclear how a Smartmatic/Newsmax trial would have impacted the reputations of both companies. One thing’s for sure: the financial damage wrought on the media companies that platformed the Trump team’s addled allegations is quite hefty indeed. Fox News settled with Dominion Voting Systems last year for $787 million in a case that is almost identical to the one involving Smartmatic and Newsmax. Fox had similarly helped to platform the conspiracy theories surrounding the 2020 presidential election, some of which involved Dominion’s voting machines. Dominion sued Fox in 2021. The settlement between the two companies also came at the last minute, right before they were set to go to trial.
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https://gizmodo.com/newsmax-settles-with-smartmatic-over-defamation-claims-2000504160