The Newsmax TV network agreed last week to pay a financial settlement rather than endure a highly anticipated four-week trial in its defense against the election technology company Smartmatic USA.
The lawsuit revolves around the 2020 presidential election when Newsmax broadcasters accused Smartmatic of converting ballots marked for Donald Trump to those for Joe Biden, which, they admit, they could never prove.
Earlier this year, Smartmatic also accepted a settlement from the far-right One America News Network over similar defamation charges.
Next up is Smartmatic’s lawsuit against Fox News, which also broadcast the false allegations over the course of several weeks in the wake of the election.
Judging by the outcome of a similar case filed by Dominion Voting Systems, it’s likely Fox News will also have to fork over a handsome sum to Smartmatic.
Fox’s settlement with Dominion was for $787.5 million. Dominion also accepted a settlement from One America News in 2023, in which the network had claimed the voting tech’s software was engaged in digital “ballot-stuffing.”
Dominion’s next target is, you guessed it, Newsmax.
In their defense during pre-trial hearings, Newsmax attorneys said the “on-air personalities” were not to be held to the standards of journalists, because those guidelines governed its “writing” more than its broadcasts.
That tells us all we need to know about the credibility of their broadcasts.
In Fox News’ case, pre-trial investigations showed that even though staff reporters had debunked the voter fraud allegations, the network’s “stars” were free to peddle the lies. Records revealed that Fox higher-ups felt justified in willfully disregarding the truth in their pursuit of higher ratings.
Kind of like spreading lies about Haitian immigrants eating others’ pets in Springfield, Ohio.
BOTH Smartmatic USA and Dominion Voting Services have said the spurious accusations damaged their reputations.
No kidding.
Four years later, voter fraud conspiracy theories are more rampant than ever despite the fact there’s still no proof the machines were manipulated to change voters’ tallies.
“Lying to the American public has consequences,” said a Smartmatic official last week.
