CNN —A judge has scheduled a major defamation case against right-wing cable channel Newsmax to go to trial in late September, putting the battle over 2020 election lies front-and-center at the peak of the 2024 campaign. A trial could have significant implications for the First Amendment and how journalists cover Trump’s election lies. The conservative network doesn’t attract a large audience like Fox News, but Newsmax’s ratings surged after the 2020 election. In addition to the Newsmax case, Smartmatic is also suing Fox News, the fringe far-right cable channel OAN and Trump allies like Rudy Giuliani and Mike Lindell, who peddled the same election lies. But there were delays in that case, creating an opening for the Smartmatic case.

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Persons: CNN —, Donald Trump’s, Smartmatic, Joe Biden, Eric Davis, Davis, Newsmax, “ Newsmax, … Newsmax, ’, Trump’s, ”, Bill Daddi, Christopher Ruddy, Fox, Eric Bolling, Greta Van Susteren, Sebastian Gorka, Clinton, Dick Morris, Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Lindell Organizations: CNN, Dominion Voting Systems, Trump, Delaware Superior Court, Dominion, Fox News, Fox, Trump White House Locations: Delaware Superior