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 that could’ve been ruinous for the news network. CNN reports that the decision to settle came only hours after jury selection began in Wilmington, Delaware. Smartmatic 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 ensure Joe Biden’s win in the presidential election. “We are holding them accountable for what they tell their audience,” a Smartmatic lawyer, J. Erik Connolly, said at the time.
“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 stating 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.
CNN writes that Smartmatic’s confidence in the ongoing legal battle has lessened somewhat lately. While the company originally accused Newsmax of costing it billions of dollars in reputational damage via its conspiracy peddling, the damages claim was ultimately reduced to some $370 million (which is, you know, still quite a lot of money). It’s unclear what a trial would have revealed about the opposing parties’ claims.
One thing’s for sure: the financial damage wrought on the media companies that platformed the Trump team’s addled allegations is quite hefty. 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 2020 presidential election lies, 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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