Fox News will have little “breathing room” following its enormous three-quarters of a billion
dollars defamation settlement payout to Dominion Voting Systems. Waiting in the wings of the courthouse is a similar suit brought against Fox by Smartmatic, another multinational technology company that specializes in creating and implementing electronic voting systems and solutions.
Smartmatic alleges that Fox News, its anchors, guests, and contributors engaged in a campaign of false and defamatory statements against the company during and after the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Smartmatic has accused Fox News of making baseless and unfounded claims that the company was involved in a conspiracy to rig the election in favor of Joe Biden.
Specifically, Smartmatic has alleged that Fox News made false claims about the company's
ownership, operations, and connections to foreign governments, and that these false claims
damaged the company's reputation and caused significant financial harm. The lawsuit alleges that Fox News knowingly aired these false statements despite having reason to know they were untrue and that the network did so with a reckless disregard for the truth.
Smartmatic is seeking an amount almost two billion dollars more than Dominion settlement,
claiming that the false statements made by Fox News caused the company to lose business and potential revenue opportunities. Smartmatic also alleges that Fox News's false and defamatory statements were part of a broader campaign to undermine confidence in the U.S. election process, and that this campaign was intended to benefit certain political interests.
The Smartmatic lawsuit against Fox News and the Dominion lawsuit against Fox News are
similar in that both voting technology companies allege that Fox News made false and
defamatory statements about them during the 2020 US presidential election. However, there are some key differences between the two lawsuits.
One significant difference is the nature of the false statements made by Fox News. Dominion has accused Fox News of making false claims that Dominion's voting machines were used to switch votes from Donald Trump to Joe Biden. In contrast, Smartmatic has accused Fox News of making false claims that the company was involved in a conspiracy to rig the election in favor of Joe Biden, even though Smartmatic was not involved in the election in any way.
Another difference is the scope of the lawsuits. Dominion has filed multiple defamation lawsuits against a range of defendants, including Fox News, several of its anchors and hosts, and other media outlets and individuals. Smartmatic's lawsuit, on the other hand, is only against Fox News.
Unless the case settles, Fox and Smartmatic will likely go to trial in 2024 or 2025.
WRITTEN BY
Phil Griffis obtained his first jury verdict in 1990, when he convinced a jury that a customer’s fall at his client’s store did not cause the customer’s aspiration pneumonia and stroke. In the years since he has continued to win in courtrooms across the State of Texas.