Latest news with #Smartmatic
Los Angeles Times
4 hours ago
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Newsmax to pay $67 million to settle Dominion suit over 2020 election fraud claims
Newsmax will pay $67 million to settle a defamation suit filed by Dominion Voting Systems over false claims about voter fraud in the 2020 election that aired on the right wing news channel. The network announced the settlement with the voting equipment maker Monday, but did not apologize for its reporting. 'Newsmax believed it was critically important for the American people to hear both sides of the election disputes that arose in 2020,' the company said in a statement. 'We stand by our coverage as fair, balanced, and conducted within professional standards of journalism.' Earlier this year, Delaware Court Judge Eric Davis ruled that Newsmax made defamatory statements about Dominion in its reporting on President Trump's allegations that the company was involved in rigging the 2020 presidential election to favor Joe Biden. He was ready to send the case to a jury that would have determined if Newsmax acted with malice and whether any damages should be awarded to Dominion. Newsmax was among the channels presenting false claims by President Trump's allies and supporters that Dominion, a provider of vote-counting machines and software, was created in Venezuela to rig elections for leader Hugo Chavez and that it has the ability to switch votes. 'We are pleased to have settled this matter,' a Dominion representative said in a statement. Fox News settled a similar case with Dominiion in April 2023 for $787.5 million after it aired incorrect election claims. Newsmax previously settled a defamation suit filed by Smartmatic, another voting equipment company that has sued right wing outlets over their reporting on Trump's false claims. The terms of the settlement were confidential. In that case, Davis also ruled that false statements were made, but ruled that Smartmatic had to prove the actual financial damage of Newsmax's actions. Smartmatic is in litigation with Fox News, looking for $2.7 billion in damages. If the case isn't settled, it will go trial in New York next year. Fox News has argued that there is no evidence Smartmatic has lost any business due to its reporting. The network argued that reporting on Trump's false claims was newsworthy and protected under the 1st amendment.
Axios
6 hours ago
- Business
- Axios
Newsmax to pay $67M settlement to Dominion Voting Systems over 2020 election lies
Conservative cable network Newsmax has settled a defamation lawsuit brought by voting-machine company Dominion Voting Systems over the airing of 2020 election lies, the company said in a regulatory filing Monday. It will pay $67 million over the next two fiscal years. Why it matters: It's the second major defamation lawsuit the company has settled following allegations that it aired falsehoods related to the 2020 election. Newsmax settled a similar lawsuit brought by voting-machine company Smartmatic last year for $40 million. Zoom in: It's unclear how Newsmax and Dominion came to the $67 million dollar amount. In the filing, Newsmax said it would be making the payments to Dominion in three installments: $27 million paid on Aug. 15; $20 million on or before Jan. 15, 2026; and $20 million on or before Jan. 15, 2027. The statement does not include any information that indicates Newsmax would be required to issue an on-air retraction or apology to Dominion. What they're saying: A Dominion spokesperson said the company is "pleased to have settled this matter." In a statement posted to its website, Newsmax defended itself and accused the court and judge overseeing the case of undermining "the role of the press in a free society." "Newsmax believed it was critically important for the American people to hear both sides of the election disputes that arose in 2020. We stand by our coverage as fair, balanced, and conducted within professional standards of journalism," Newsmax said. Zoom out: Both settlements allow Newsmax, which recently went public, to avoid high-profile trials over the airing of false claims that former President Joe Biden's 2020 election victory was rigged. The big picture: Newsmax's settlement represents the latest outcome from a long list of litigation waged by Smartmatic and Dominion against conservative media companies and personalities following the 2020 election.
CTV News
6 hours ago
- Business
- CTV News
Conservative network Newsmax agrees to pay US$67M in defamation case over bogus 2020 election claims
A display shows a Newsmax logo on the day of their IPO on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, March 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File) DENVER — The conservative network Newsmax will pay US$67 million to settle a lawsuit accusing it of defaming a voting equipment company by spreading lies about President Donald Trump's 2020 election loss, according to documents filed Monday. The settlement comes after Fox News Channel paid $787.5 million to settle a similar lawsuit in 2023 and Newsmax paid what court papers describe as $40 million to settle a libel lawsuit from a different voting machine manufacturer, Smartmatic, which also was a target of pro-Trump conspiracy theories on the network. Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis had ruled earlier that Newsmax did indeed defame Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems by airing false information about the company and its equipment. But Davis left it to a jury to eventually decide whether that was done with malice, and, if so, how much Dominion deserved from Newsmax in damages. Newsmax and Dominion reached the settlement before the trial could take place. The settlement was disclosed by Newsmax on Monday in a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. It said the deal was reached Friday. A spokesperson for Dominion said the company was pleased to have settled the lawsuit. The disclosure came as Trump, who lost his 2020 reelection bid to Democrat Joe Biden, vowed in a social media post Monday to eliminate mail-in ballots and voting machines such as those supplied by Dominion and other companies. It was unclear how the Republican president could achieve that. The same judge also handled the Dominion-Fox News case and made a similar ruling that the network repeated numerous lies by Trump's allies about his 2020 loss despite internal communications showing Fox officials knew the claims were bogus. At the time, Davis found it was 'CRYSTAL clear' that none of the allegations was true. Internal correspondence from Newsmax officials likewise shows they knew the claims were baseless. 'How long are we going to play along with election fraud?' Newsmax host Bob Sellers said two days after the 2020 election was called for Biden, according to internal documents revealed as part of the case. Newsmax took pride that it was not calling the election for Biden and, the internal documents show, saw a business opportunity in catering to viewers who believed Trump won. Private communications that surfaced as part of Dominion's earlier defamation case against Fox News also revealed how the network's business interests intersected with decisions it made related to coverage of Trump's 2020 election claims. At Newsmax, employees repeatedly warned against false allegations from pro-Trump guests such as attorney Sidney Powell, according to documents in the lawsuit. In one text, even Newsmax owner Chris Ruddy, a Trump ally, said he found it 'scary' that Trump was meeting with Powell. Dominion was at the heart of many of the wild claims aired by guests on Newsmax and elsewhere, who promoted a conspiracy theory involving deceased Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez to rig the machines for Biden. Though Trump has insisted his fraud claims are real, there's no evidence they were, and the lawsuits in the Fox and Newsmax cases show how some of the president's biggest supporters knew they were false at the time. Trump's then-attorney general, William Barr, said there was no evidence of widespread fraud. Trump and his backers lost dozens of lawsuits alleging fraud, some before Trump-appointed judges. Numerous recounts, reviews and audits of the election results, including some run by Republicans, turned up no signs of significant wrongdoing or error and affirmed Biden's win. After returning to office, Trump pardoned those who tried to halt the transfer of power during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and directed his Department of Justice to investigate Chris Krebs, a former Trump cybersecurity appointee who had vouched for the security and accuracy of the 2020 election. As an initial trial date approached in the Dominion case earlier this year, Trump issued an executive order attacking the law firm that litigated it and the Fox case, Susman Godfrey. The order, part of a series targeting law firms Trump has tussled with, cited Susman Godfrey's work on elections and said the government would not do business with any of its clients or permit any of its staff in federal buildings. A federal judge put that action on hold, saying the framers would view it as 'a shocking abuse of power. ' Nicholas Riccardi, The Associated Press
NBC News
6 hours ago
- Business
- NBC News
Newsmax to pay $67M to settle defamation lawsuit from voting machine company
The conservative cable news channel Newsmax will pay $67 million to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by the voting machine company Dominion over baseless claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged, according to a new regulatory filing. The settlement averts what promised to be a high-profile trial. Newsmax and Dominion Voting Systems agreed to the settlement on Friday, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The payments will be made in three installments by January 2027, the filing said. 'We are pleased to have settled this matter,' a Dominion spokesperson said in response to a request for comment. In a statement, Newsmax said it 'believed it was critically important for the American people to hear both sides of the election disputes that arose in 2020.' 'We stand by our coverage as fair, balanced, and conducted within professional standards of journalism,' the company added in part. No additional details were immediately available through the court records system in Delaware, where the defamation lawsuit was filed. In a complaint filed in August 2021, Dominion accused Newsmax of having 'manufactured, endorsed, repeated and broadcast a series of verifiably false yet devastating lies about Dominion' during and after the 2020 election. The 'outlandish and far-fetched fictions' included that Dominion 'committed election fraud by rigging the 2020 Presidential Election' and 'paid kickbacks to government officials,' according to the complaint. This year, a Delaware judge ruled that Newsmax had defamed Dominion but said a jury must decide whether the conservative news brand had done so with 'actual malice,' which must be proved for a public figure to succeed in a defamation case. Newsmax previously agreed to pay $40 million to the voting technology Smartmatic to settle another election defamation lawsuit. $787.5 million settlement in April 2023 hours before a trial jury was set to be sworn in.
Forbes
8 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
Newsmax Will Pay Dominion Voting Systems $67 Million—Settlement For 2020 Election Fraud Case
Newsmax confirmed Monday it will pay $67 million to settle Dominion Voting Systems' defamation case arguing the conservative news network knowingly made false claims about Dominion's voting machines, the latest in a string of high-dollar settlements paid out by companies who falsely linked voting machines to fraud in the 2020 election—just as President Donald Trump continues to push the claims. News anchors work at Newsmax's booth during the second day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 16, 2024. AFP via Getty Images Newsmax said it will pay $67 million to Dominion Voting Systems in installments over the next three years—far lower than the $1.6 billion the voting machine company sought in damages when it initially sued Newsmax in 2021. Dominion sued Newsmax alleging the right-wing news network pushed claims tying the company's voting machines to election fraud despite knowing those claims were false, one of a number of lawsuits brought by Dominion and rival voting company Smartmatic following the 2020 election. The case had been set to go to trial, with the Delaware judge overseeing the case finding in April that Newsmax made false claims about Dominion and broadcast information about the voting company that 'would likely cause reasonable viewers to think significantly less favorably about Dominion than if the viewers knew the truth.' Newsmax said Monday it still denies its reporting was defamatory, claiming its reporting was 'fair' and 'balanced' and the network 'believed it was critically important for the American people to hear both sides of the election disputes that arose in 2020.' The network decided to settle the case because it determined the court overseeing the case 'would not provide a fair trial wherein the company could present standard libel defenses to a jury,' Newsmax claimed Monday. The settlement comes after Newsmax also settled Smartmatic's case against the news network in September 2024 for an undisclosed amount. More than $800 million. That's how much Dominion has won as a result of settlements in its defamation cases, including the voting company's $787.5 million settlement with Fox News. News Peg News of the multimillion-dollar settlement came hours after President Donald Trump continued to assert claims about voting machines being tied to election fraud, despite those claims repeatedly proven as false. The president claimed on Truth Social on Monday he would 'lead a movement' against mail-in ballots and some voting machines, which he claimed without evidence are 'Highly 'Inaccurate,' Very Expensive, and Seriously Controversial.' Court filings in Special Counsel Jack Smith's prosecution against Trump for trying to overturn the 2020 election—which has now been dropped—previously suggested Trump privately does not believe the fraud claims regarding voting machines. The president allegedly 'mocked' claims made by attorney Sidney Powell tying voting machines to fraud, Smith claimed, with Trump likening the fraud claims to 'Star Trek.' Forbes Trump Announces 'Movement' Against Mail-In Ballots 'Scam' By Sara Dorn Forbes Smartmatic Settles With Newsmax: Here's Where It And Dominion's Other Lawsuits Stand By Alison Durkee
