How many Hundreds of millions???

Newsmax settles with Smartmatic days ahead of trial

Story by Dominick Mastrangelo

Newsmax has settled a lawsuit brought by voting systems provider Smartmatic in connection with the channel’s airing of false claims about its software after the 2020 election, the network announced Thursday.

“Newsmax is pleased to announce it has resolved the litigation brought by Smartmatic through a confidential settlement,” a spokesperson for the outlet told The Hill.

The settlement comes as jury selection was underway Thursday ahead of trial in the case set to start next week.

Smartmatic sued Newsmax, along with a host of other conservative media companies and allies of former President Trump, over claims about its software and the fairness of the 2020 election. 

In public statements and legal filings over the last two years, the voting systems provider had argued Newsmax damaged its reputation and financial health by spreading unproven claims of voter fraud.  

To prove defamation, Smartmatic would have had to convince a jury the conservative outlet acted with “actual malice” or “reckless disregard for the truth” when broadcasting claims about the company.  

Smartmatic, through testimony and exhibits entered before the court, was expected to lay out for jurors how pressure to retain audience in the days following the election motivated the channel to promote unproven claims about the company and its software.  

The cable channel, in defending itself from Smartmatic’s claims, argued that it was simply reporting on newsworthy allegations being made by Trump and his supporters, including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and conservative attorney Sidney Powell. 

The Delaware Superior Court judge presiding over the case, Eric Davis, ruled earlier this month that Newsmax would be allowed to argue it is protected from liability under the state’s “neutral reporting privilege,” which extends to “disinterested and neutral reporting” on matters of public concern.  

Attorneys for the network argued the outlet was protected from liability because many of the allegedly defamatory statements were made by third parties appearing as guests or were rebroadcast.  

Attorneys for the cable channel were also expected to underscore  indictments handed down last month against three current and former Smartmatic executives, including the company’s Venezuelan-born co-founder, Roger Piñate.

Those charges involve an alleged scheme to pay more than $1 million in bribes to put Smartmatic voting machines in the Philippines.  

Davis issued a pretrial ruling limiting the scope of the evidence Newsmax can present relative to the corruption allegations.  

Davis on Monday ruled out the possibility of a jury awarding punitive damages in the case, increasing what many saw as the likelihood of a settlement between the two sides.  

As part of his ruling, Davis concluded Newsmax did not engaged in express malice – meaning it never explicitly intended to harm Smartmatic – though he found the claims broadcast on its air to be “materially false.”  

Smartmatic has pending litigation with Fox News, which last spring paid Dominion Voting Systems $787 million in a separate lawsuit brought against the top-watched cable network. 

Smartmatic initially pegged its damages at $1.7 billion in its case against Newsmax, a number that has since been adjusted to about $370 million, according to statements during Monday’s hearing.

“We are very pleased to have secured the completion of the case against Newsmax.  We are now looking forward to our court day against Fox Corp and Fox News for their disinformation campaign,” Smartmatic said in a statement to The Hill on Thursday. “Lying to the American people has consequences.  Smartmatic will not stop until the perpetrators are held accountable.” 

“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,” Fox said in a statement.