Newsmax has posted a new statement on its website about the settlement of Smartmatic‘s defamation lawsuit, acknowledging that a court found that claims that the voting company was involved in rigging the 2020 election were untrue.
In a statement posted on Saturday, Newsmax said that it “has resolved the litigation brought by Smartmatic through a confidential settlement. Newsmax acknowledges that the Court found that ‘allegations regarding whether the [2020 U.S. presidential election] and its results were somehow altered or manipulated by Smartmatic are factually false/untrue.’”
“Newsmax reiterates its statement of December 2020 that made clear that there is no evidence that Smartmatic machines or software altered the votes in the 2020 U.S. presidential election and that Smartmatic is a U.S. company and not owned by the Venezuelan government, or any foreign official or entity.”
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Newsmax settled the Smartmatic lawsuit in September, just days before a trial was scheduled to begin in Wilmington, DE. The details of the settlement were not disclosed, and it is unclear if the latest statement was part of it. Spokesperson for the media entity and Smartmatic did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In the aftermath of the 2020 election, Newsmax played up Donald Trump‘s unfounded claims that the 2020 election was rigged against him. For a time, the network benefited from a viewer backlash against Fox News, which had been the first network to call Arizona for Joe Biden.
Smartmatic had sued Newsmax over the post-2020 election amplification of claims that it was involved in the rigging of the election, even though the company was only providing services in Los Angeles County.
In a summary judgment ruling, Judge Eric Davis ruled that statements that ran on Newsmax “regarding Smartmatic software or voting machines altering the results of the Election are factually false. The reports and investigations conducted by multiple state and federal agencies since the Election universally come to the same result.”
Davis, however, left it up to a jury to decide whether Newsmax was liable for actual malice.
Smartmatic also settled another case against another outlet on the right, One America News Network. It’s case against Fox News is still pending.
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