The latest case tied to false claims made on cable news about the 2020 U.S. presidential election is headed to trial.
On Thursday, jury selection is set to begin in a defamation case brought against the right-wing news channel Newsmax by Smartmatic, an election technology company. The case mirrors the blockbuster Dominion Voting Systems v. Fox News lawsuit, which was settled last year for $787.5 million minutes before opening statements were to begin.
Smartmatic, which was little known before 2020, provided voting services in just one county in California during the election. But it, along with Dominion, was pulled into a cascade of conspiracy theories about election fraud promoted by supporters of President Donald J. Trump on cable networks and elsewhere as they tried to cast doubt over the election results.
In a lawsuit filed in Delaware Superior Court in 2021, Smartmatic accused Newsmax, a pro-Trump cable channel based in Boca Raton, Fla., of trying to entice viewers from its rival, Fox News, by airing reports linking Smartmatic to baseless conspiracy theories that it had helped swing that election for Joseph R. Biden Jr. by switching votes.
Newsmax has said that it was merely covering allegations made by Mr. Trump and his allies over the election results and that the lawsuit “threatens freedom of speech and freedom of press.”
A Smartmatic spokesman, Tom Becker, said in a statement that Newsmax’s “repeated lies” were the central issue of the lawsuit.
“We look forward to presenting evidence of its wrongdoing, questioning top Newsmax executives about its coverage, and ask the jury to hold them liable using whatever remedies are allowed by law,” Mr. Becker said.
The case is the latest legal test over how accountable media outlets should be when knowingly spreading falsehoods. A similar Smartmatic lawsuit against Fox News is expected to go to trial in New York in 2025, and the election company settled a separate claim against One America News Network in April.
Likewise, Dominion has pending cases against Newsmax and One America News Network, as well as Mike Lindell, the My Pillow founder and election denier; Sidney Powell, a former lawyer for Mr. Trump; and the former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who advised Mr. Trump.
In the Newsmax case, Smartmatic must convince a jury that the cable channel acted with actual malice — that is, either by knowingly allowing false claims about Smartmatic’s role in the election to be aired in multiple reports in November and December 2020 or by recklessly disregarding the facts.
Smartmatic has pointed to claims made by Newsmax hosts, including Chris Salcedo, who told his audience that “they’ve got a backdoor software built in,” and Michelle Malkin, who claimed that Smartmatic was linked to Dominion through “a labyrinth of shell companies.” Smartmatic said Newsmax had also republished falsehoods that Mr. Trump’s allies stated on Fox News, including Ms. Powell’s claim that Smartmatic was created in Venezuela “at the direction of Hugo Chávez.”
The same judge in the Fox-Dominion case, Eric Davis, is overseeing the Smartmatic trial in Wilmington, Del. Opening statements are set to begin on Monday, and the trial is expected to last up to four weeks. Witnesses are expected to include Christopher Ruddy, the chief executive of Newsmax, and Sean Spicer, Mr. Trump’s former White House press secretary, who hosted a talk show on the channel.
On Monday, Judge Davis dealt a blow to Smartmatic by ruling that the company could not pursue punitive damages if a jury found in its favor. (Mr. Becker, the spokesman, has declined to specify how much Smartmatic is seeking in damages.) The judge rejected the company’s claim that Newsmax had acted with “express malice,” or with a deliberate intent for harm, toward it.
Other pretrial rulings have been more favorable to Smartmatic. Judge Davis has said statements by Newsmax claiming Smartmatic altered votes were “factually false” and not a matter of dispute.
“The reports and investigations conducted by multiple state and federal agencies since the election universally come to the same result,” Judge Davis wrote.
He also said he would limit evidence introduced to the jury by Newsmax about a Justice Department investigation and resulting August indictment of three current and former Smartmatic executives, including the president, Roger Piñate, who is also a co-founder. The charges relate to an alleged bribery scheme to obtain a contract for the 2016 Philippine elections. Lawyers for Newsmax had argued that the investigation and indictments had far more of an effect on Smartmatic’s reputation and business losses than news reports by the network.
“Newsmax’s reporting did not cause Smartmatic damages, and after extensive discovery Smartmatic has offered no evidence of such claimed damages,” a Newsmax spokesman, Bill Daddi, said in a statement this week.
He added: “Newsmax is disappointed the Delaware court is allowing a company with such a sordid reputation to pursue a defamation claim against a media company for covering public allegations made about it.”
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