Newsmax Apologizes To Dominion Exec As It Settles Lawsuit Over False Voter Fraud Claims
Topline
Right-wing cable outlet Newsmax settled a defamation suit brought by a Dominion Voting Systems executive Friday with an apology and admitted that allegations of voter fraud that it aired were untrue, the latest backtracking as Newsmax and other conservative outfits face legal retribution for amplifying former President Donald Trump’s baseless vote-rigging claims.
A worker passes a Dominion Voting ballot scanner in Gwinnett County, Ga. on Jan. 4.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Key Facts
Dominion security director Eric Coomer filed a Colorado defamation lawsuit in December against Newsmax, competitor One America News, the Trump campaign and several Trump-affiliated lawyers, accusing them of falsely linking him to a vast, shadowy, high-tech (and nonexistent) plot to rig the 2020 election.
In a Friday afternoon statement, Newsmax acknowledged it had broadcast voter fraud claims against Coomer and admitted there’s no evidence any of them were true.
Newsmax also admitted it doesn’t have evidence that Coomer confessed to rigging the election during a conference call with antifa, an outlandish allegation repeated on-air by former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, who is also facing a lawsuit from Coomer.
Coomer dropped Newsmax from his lawsuit Friday after reaching a settlement with the network, his attorneys told Forbes in a statement, though they did not offer any details on the terms of the settlement.
Newsmax pointed Forbes to its statement and declined to comment further.
Surprising Fact
Coomer’s lawsuit says he suffered death threats because of the false allegations leveled against him, forcing him to flee his home and go into hiding.
Crucial Quote
“On behalf of Newsmax, we would like to apologize for any harm that our reporting of the allegations against Dr. Coomer may have caused to Dr. Coomer and his family,” the network said in a statement posted to its website Friday.
Key Background
Immediately after last year’s presidential election, Newsmax turned itself into a haven for voters who believed Trump was the rightful winner. The network waited more than a month before calling the race for President Joe Biden, and it spent weeks giving airtime to the false conspiracy theory that Trump was a victim of widespread vote-rigging. This approach has occasionally landed the network in hot water: After election software company Smartmatic threatened to sue Newsmax in December, the channel broadcast an on-air statement rebutting allegations against both Smartmatic and its competitor, Dominion. Plus, on at least two separate occasions, anchors for Newsmax have interrupted interviews with Trump-supporting MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell after he tried to repeat vote-rigging claims on-air.
What To Watch For
Coomer is still suing a litany of other Trump-adjacent figures, including the Trump campaign, lawyers Powell and Rudy Giuliani, One America News, and the far-right website Gateway Pundit. Coomer’s lawyers said he’s seeking punitive damages.
Tangent
Coomer’s suit isn’t the only legal threat to confront Newsmax and its competitors. Both Dominion and Smartmatic have threatened to sue Newsmax and One America News, and the two voting systems companies are currently suing Fox News, which has called the efforts “baseless.”
Further Reading
Newsmax Anchor Cuts Off Mike Lindell As Network Braces For Lawsuit From Dominion (Forbes)
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