Voting Company Smartmatic Sues One America News And Newsmax For Defamation Over Election Fraud Claims
Topline
Voting machine maker Smartmatic sued far-right news networks One America News and Newsmax for defamation Wednesday, accusing them of spreading baseless election fraud claims involving the company’s voting systems, in the latest litigation over right-wing conspiracy theories involving the 2020 presidential election.
Smartmatic headquarters in Caracas, on August 2, 2017.
AFP via Getty Images
Key Facts
Smartmatic’s OANN suit, filed in federal court in the District of Columbia against OANN and parent company Herring Networks, alleges the network “damaged Smartmatic’s reputation and brand” by repeatedly making false claims about its machines.
The company also separately filed suit against Newsmax in the Superior Court of the State of Delaware, alleging the network “cross[ed]
legal and ethical lines to climb the ladder” in an attempt to beat Fox News’ viewership through its fraud claims about Smartmatic’s machines.
The OANN lawsuit alleges OANN “knew the election was not rigged, fixed, or stolen” but spread false claims that it was anyway, involving Smartmatic even though the company’s machines were only used in Los Angeles County, California, and not in the states where the fraud claims were made.
The Newsmax complaint, similarly, claims the network acted “with fault, at least negligence, and with actual malice” in making its fraud claims despite allegedly knowing they were false.
Smartmatic does not name a specific amount in damages that it’s seeking, but alleges OANN and Newsmax’s claims have directly caused the company to spend more than $1.2 million, and that fraud claims from the networks and others have caused Smartmatic’s valuation to drop by more than $2 billion since before the 2020 election.
OANN has not yet responded to requests for comment, but Newsmax said in a statement “reported accurately on allegations made by well-known public figures” and “Smartmatic’s claims in its defense.”
What To Watch For
Smartmatic is asking the court to hold a jury trial to address its defamation claims in both cases.
Crucial Quote
“The first time it happened could be a mistake. The second, third, fourth and fiftieth times it happened were intentional choices,” OANN states in the complaint. “OANN had every opportunity to do the right thing after the 2020 election for President and Vice President of the United States. It could have reported the truth. Instead, OANN chose to do the wrong thing every time. It reported a lie.”
Chief Critic
“Smartmatic’s action against Newsmax today is a clear attempt to squelch the rights of a free press,” Newsmax said in a statement.
Key Background
Smartmatic and rival company Dominion Voting Systems have filed a series of defamation lawsuits in the wake of the 2020 presidential election, after baseless conspiracy theories implicating the companies’ machines in purported election fraud took hold on the far right. Smartmatic has already filed a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against far-right attorneys Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani, Fox News and several of its anchors, which is pending in state court. In addition to Smartmatic’s two lawsuits, Dominion has also sued Newsmax, OANN and two of its anchors, along with Powell, Giuliani, Fox News, former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne and MyPillow and its CEO Mike Lindell. Those lawsuits all remain pending, though Dominion earned a court victory in August when a federal judge ruled the company’s cases against Powell, Giuliani and Lindell could move forward and threw out the defendants’ motions to dismiss.
Tangent
Though the complaints Wednesday allege Smartmatic was valued at more than $3 billion before the 2020 election, Forbes independently valued the company at an estimated $730 million in April based on its estimated 2020 sales. CEO Antonio Mugica disputed that figure, arguing the company would be valued at more than $3 billion were it not for the fraud claims, and the company claimed in its first defamation lawsuit the election allegations have caused Smartmatic to lose $500 million in potential profits over five years.
Further Reading
Right-wing network One America News sued by voting technology firm Smartmatic – court records (Reuters)
Voting Company Smartmatic Sues Fox News, Giuliani, Sidney Powell For Defamation (Forbes)
This Foreign Voting Machine Company Wants To Take Over America – If It Can Get Through Fox News (Forbes)
After Lawsuits Against Newsmax And OANN, Here’s Who Dominion Has Sued So Far—And Who Could Be Next (Forbes)
*** This article has been archived for your research. The original version from Forbes can be found here ***
