A defamation lawsuit filed by a voting machine company against Newsmax appears headed for trial following a ruling by a Delaware judge on Thursday.
Florida-based Smartmatic Newsmax accused The company accused other conservative media outlets of airing derogatory statements suggesting the results of the 2020 presidential election were rigged.
Newsmax claimed to be reporting newsworthy allegations made by former President Trump and his associates, but the company previously said it “did not report true facts about any specific allegations made about these companies.”
Newsmax and Smartmatic asked Superior Court Judge Eric Davis to rule in their favor without going to trial. Judge Davis granted partial summary judgment but said a jury would decide key issues. The trial is scheduled to begin on September 30. The Associated Press reported.
Smartmatic maintains that it provided election machines and software only for the 2020 election in Los Angeles, not in places where Trump and his supporters challenged the election results.
Smartmatic's lawsuit against Newsmax is similar to its lawsuit against One America News Network (OANN). Smartmatic and OANN “resolved the litigation” through a “confidential settlement” in April. Smartmatic's defamation lawsuit against Fox News is still pending.
The judge said Thursday that not all of Newsmax's allegedly defamatory statements about the voting company were materially false, and that he would allow the media organization to contest “whether or not” Newsmax's statements about Smartmatic's ties to Venezuela were false.
A federal grand jury in Florida has indicted three current and former Smartmatic executives for their role in a $1 million scheme to place voting machines in the Philippines. Newsmax detailed Smartmatic's “chevronical history” in court documents, according to the Associated Press.
Judge David ruled that Smartmatic is a “qualified public figure” and that to claim defamation, Newsmax would have to prove that it acted with “actual malice” and willfully disregarded the truth. He also ruled that Newsmax could claim “neutral journalistic privilege,” which the company asserted it invoked because the election fraud claims were made by a third party on a platform other than Newsmax.
Still, the judge found there was no evidence that Newsmax acted with “bad faith.” According to the Associated Press, Judge Davis ruled Thursday that a jury must decide whether the company did in fact act with malice and whether Smartmatic is entitled to damages.
Smartmatic said While the company is “very willing” to explain its losses to a jury in order to win damages, Newsmax is unlikely to want to take the case in front of a jury and may settle before reaching that stage.
In a statement to The Hill, Smartmatic said it continues to review the ruling, but maintains that Newsmax knew it had reported false allegations.
“Smartmatic is pleased to have the opportunity to prove this to a jury in court,” Smartmatic's lead attorney Eric Connolly said in a statement. “This verdict marks the company's latest victory in lawsuits it has filed against individuals and media organizations that have defamed the company following the 2020 U.S. presidential election.”
Newsmax previously told The Hill that it has “never alleged any wrongdoing with respect to Smartmatic, its ownership interests or its software.”
The Hill reached out to Newsmax for comment on Thursday's ruling, but the company accused Davis of interfering with press freedom. Statement to CNN.
“Newsmax is disappointed that any portion of Smartmatic's lawsuit is going to trial because we believe it is a threat to press freedom. However, we are pleased that the court found no evidence that Newsmax acted in bad faith against Smartmatic and that Newsmax will be able to exercise its right to a neutral and fair press at trial,” spokesman Bill Duddy said in a statement to CNN.
The Associated Press contributed.
