Sept. 26 (UPI) — Far-right cable TV outlet Newsmax and the voting machine company Smartmatic settled a defamation lawsuit stemming from claims by Newsmax that the 2020 election was rigged, the cable operator announced Thursday.
The amount of the settlement was not immediately disclosed.
It’s the latest in a series of such settlements related to the election and false claims that the results were somehow tabulated unfairly or suspiciously.
The deal came as jury selection had begun in Wilmington, Del., Thursday. Smartmatic sued Newsmax over its baseless claims of election fraud and filed a similar suit against Fox News, which also furthered unsupported claims that the contest had been “stolen” from President Donald Trump. No claims of widespread vote ballot tampering or voter machine malfunctions or irregularities were proven.
“Accordingly, statements regarding Smartmatic software or voting machines altering the results of the election are factually false,” Judge Eric Davis of the Superior Court of the State of Delaware in his 57-page decision. “Reports and investigations conducted by multiple state and federal agencies since the election universally come to the same conclusion,”
“Newsmax is pleased to announce it has resolved the litigation brought by Smartmatic through a confidential settlement,” the network said in a statement.
The suit had been scheduled to go to trial this month, and opening statements were slated for Monday.
“Lying to the American people has consequences,” Smartmatic lawyer Erik Connolly said in a statement. “Smartmatic will not stop until the perpetrators are held accountable” Connolly added, referring to Newsmax.
Newsmax stood by its charges that the election was not counted fairly and that Smartmatic machines were to blame, claims it argued were protected by the First Amendment.
“This is a case that is a bet-your-company case for Newsmax,” Howard Cooper, a Newsmax attorney said at a recent pretrial hearing.
As the trial date approached, Smartmatic significantly dropped its demands from nearly $1 billion to about $370 million. A Delaware Superior Court judge ruled that Smartmatic could only sue for provable losses and not “punitive damages” which prompted Smartmatic to reduce its damages request.
Smartmatic has also argued President Donald Trump, Newsmax and Fox News had damaged the voting machine company’s reputation, resulting in the initial $1 billion demand.
The cable operator stood to be responsible for tens of millions of dollars in damages to Smartmatic if it had lost the trial, fines and fees that could have imperiled Newsmax’s future. In its suit, Smartmatic argued that Newsmax tried to lure viewers from Fox News, a competitor, by stoking false claims of election fraud, and claiming Smartmatic machines were “rigged.”
The trial had been expected to last a month or more.
Dominion Voting Systems reached a $787 million settlement with Fox News in a separate case last year. Dominion initially sued Fox News for $1.6 billion in the election-related defamation lawsuit.
