Smartmatic, an electronic voting machine manufacturer, and Newsmax, a prominent pro-Trump cable company, have reached a settlement agreement just before their case was set to go to trial.
The lawsuit was filed by Smartmatic against the conservative news outlet, which alleged that the voting technology company’s machines rigged the 2020 election results against former President Donald Trump.
While Smartmatic and Newsmax did not divulge the terms of the settlement, both parties released statements about the out-of-court agreement.
“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. Lying to the American people has consequences. Smartmatic will not stop until the perpetrators are held accountable,” Smartmatic stated in a press release.
Newsmax, on the other hand, said in a statement that it is “pleased to announce it has resolved the litigation brought by Smartmatic through a confidential settlement.”
The agreement was reached just ahead of the opening statements scheduled for Monday at a Wilmington, Delaware, court. Smartmatic and Newsmax finalized the deal just hours after jury selection began, with official announcements of the settlement made Thursday afternoon, CNN reported.
The defamation case brought by Smartmatic against Newsmax would have marked the first in a string of high-profile cases filed against a number of media companies following the 2020 elections that reached a jury.
Had the case proceeded, it would have determined whether Newsmax aired defamatory statements against Smartmatic by claiming that the latter’s voting machines allegedly rigged the election results against Trump.
At the time, Newsmax denied any wrongdoing and said its coverage was protected by the First Amendment.
Prior to the settlement, both parties engaged in negotiations, but no agreement was reached until jury selection commenced. According to the CNN report, the legal teams from both sides ultimately settled the matter out of court.
During a recent pre-trial hearing, Howard Cooper, an attorney for Newsmax, said, “This is a case that is a bet-your-company case for Newsmax.”
Smartmatic has claimed that the “lies” promoted by Newsmax and others damaged its reputation and cost it billions of dollars. However, as the trial approached, Smartmatic’s legal team reduced its damages claim from $1.7 billion to approximately $370 million.
The drop in damages claim came after Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis ruled earlier this week that Smartmatic could only seek compensation for provable losses. This eliminated the possibility of additional “punitive damages.”
Smartmatic is also engaged in a legal battle against Fox News in New York that may go to trial next year. In April, the company settled a similar lawsuit against the One America News Network, another conservative outlet.
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