Fox News to Face Trial in Smartmatic Defamation Lawsuit
Fox News is headed towards a trial related to its coverage of the 2020 election. A New York state appellate court has decided that the defamation case, brought by the voting technology company Smartmatic, can proceed. This decision follows the network’s settlement with Dominion Voting Systems in a similar case.
This new legal battle centers on claims that Fox News spread false information after the 2020 presidential election, specifically regarding Smartmatic, alleging the company contributed to election fraud. The network is accused of falsely stating that Smartmatic’s technology manipulated the results to undermine then-President Donald Trump’s reelection.
This case parallels a previous defamation suit brought by Dominion Voting Systems. In April 2023, on the eve of the trial in Delaware, Fox News and its parent company agreed to pay a staggering $787.5 million to settle the Dominion case. Revelations from the pre-trial process, including internal communications, revealed that key figures within Fox News, from junior producers to primetime hosts and executives, knew Joe Biden had won the election fairly. However, the network allowed guests to spread false claims, allegedly to recapture viewers who supported Trump. Some hosts actively amplified and embraced these claims.
Smartmatic is seeking $2.7 billion in damages in its suit. The New York appellate court’s ruling allows the case to move forward, although some claims against the network’s parent company, Fox Corp., were dismissed. Pro-Trump hosts, including Maria Bartiromo and the late Lou Dobbs, presented unsubstantiated claims about Smartmatic on air and at times appeared to endorse these accusations. In response to public outcry, Fox News and Fox Business Network aired a segment with a voting tech expert, Edward Perez, offering a rebuttal to the claims. Newsmax, a right-wing competitor of Fox, did a similar segment.
Smartmatic’s lead attorney, Erik Connolly, stated, “Today, the New York Supreme Court rebuffed Fox Corporation’s latest attempt to escape responsibility for the defamation campaign it orchestrated against Smartmatic following the 2020 election.” Fox News, in their response, said they will defend their coverage of the events. The network’s spokesperson said that Smartmatic’s claim for damages are “implausible” and “intended to chill First Amendment freedoms.”
Unlike Dominion, whose systems were used in multiple states, Smartmatic’s technology was used only in Los Angeles County in 2020. In the Dominion case, Fox News argued that it was simply reporting on newsworthy claims from newsworthy sources. However, the judge in the Delaware case, Eric M. Davis, rejected this argument, stating that Fox’s personnel had broadcast false claims. In this New York case, Fox is fighting the allegations. The company settled the Dominion case before the trial’s opening arguments and plans to fight the Smartmatic case in court.
