Fox News Agrees to Hand Over Documents in Smartmatic Defamation Lawsuit
In a case reminiscent of Dominion Voting Machines‘ recently settled lawsuit, Fox News has agreed to provide thousands of documents to voting machine company Smartmatic. Smartmatic is suing the network for defamation, claiming that Fox aired false allegations that the company rigged the 2020 presidential election against former President Donald Trump. Last week, Fox agreed to pay Dominion nearly $800 million to avoid a trial. The ultimate cost to the media company is expected to be lower than the settlement amount.
Smartmatic is seeking a $2.7 billion judgment, surpassing the $1.6 billion Dominion sought in its suit. However, no court date has been set, and the case may not go to trial for a couple of years. Smartmatic alleges that Fox “slow-rolled its production” of transcripts and other materials related to the Dominion suit. Smartmatic has received only a small fraction of the more than 52,000 documents it requested during the discovery process.
Among the documents Smartmatic hopes will strengthen its case are deposition transcripts for Fox founder Rupert Murdoch, his son Lachlan Murdoch, and documents related to company executive Raj Shah and lawyer Viet Dinh. Fox News has stated that it is prepared to defend itself in this case, asserting that Smartmatic’s damages claims are implausible and intended to hinder First Amendment freedoms.
The Dominion case shed light on how Fox and its on-air personalities, including Sean Hannity, Jeanine Pirro, Maria Bartiromo, and the now-fired Tucker Carlson, promoted Conspiracy theories and Trump’s baseless efforts to overturn the election. The network faced embarrassing revelations from emails that showed Fox executives and personalities acknowledging that the accusations were false even as they were being broadcast on programs.
Although Smartmatic’s machines were only used in Los Angeles during the 2020 election and had little influence on the presidential race, Fox’s on-air personalities occasionally conflated Dominion and Smartmatic. Smartmatic’s lawyer, Erik Connolly, has stated that the Dominion case exposed some of the misconduct and damage caused by Fox’s disinformation campaign and that Smartmatic intends to expose the rest.
As the legal battle continues, the outcome of the Smartmatic defamation lawsuit against Fox News remains uncertain. The case highlights the consequences faced by media organizations when false information is disseminated and the potential financial ramifications of such actions.
Original Story at apnews.com – 2023-04-26 07:00:00