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☆ Fox board members subpoenaed in Smartmatic’s defamation lawsuit over 2020 election lies
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-11 | by ( Jon Passantino | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Four Fox Corporation board members have been subpoenaed in voting technology company Smartmatic’s $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News over its airing of 2020 election lies, alleging executives at the right-wing cable channel’s parent company knew it was spreading false claims. In a court filing Monday, Smartmatic subpoenaed the four board members — Anne Dias, Charles Carey, Roland Hernandez, Jacques Nasser — over Fox News’s repeated airing of bogus conspiracy theories that the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump. “Smartmatic plans to pursue Fox’s board members as well to determine why they allowed the company’s most valuable asset, Fox News, to spread disinformation about the 2020 election.”New York Judge David Cohen had previously ordered Fox Corporation to turn over documents related to the board members in the case. Rupert Murdoch, the right-wing media mogul who founded Fox Corporation, the parent company of Fox News, was also deposed late last year. Fox News has previously denied defaming anyone and claimed that Smartmatic’s lawsuit is an assault on the First Amendment.

Persons: Smartmatic, — Anne Dias, Charles Carey, Roland Hernandez, Jacques Nasser —, Fox News’s, Donald Trump, Rupert, Lachlan Murdoch, ”, Erik Connolly, “ Smartmatic, David Cohen, Rupert Murdoch, “, Lachlan Murdoch’s, Cohen, Murdoch, Joe Biden Organizations: CNN, Four Fox Corporation, Fox News, Fox, “, Fox Corporation, New York State, Dominion Voting Systems Locations: New York

☆ Newsmax denies destroying evidence in 2020 defamation case after Smartmatic alleges ‘cover-up’
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-24 | by ( Marshall Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Smartmatic and Newsmax have since been embroiled in the years-long defamation case, which is slated to go to trial this September in Delaware Superior Court, barring an out-of-court settlement. Smartmatic further accused Newsmax of intentionally “destroying relevant evidence” by deleting texts and emails from senior officials. Fox News famously paid more than $787 million to Dominion Voting Systems to settle a case last year over similar 2020 election lies on its airwaves. A trial could put Newsmax’s financial future in peril, but there is one major difference between the Newsmax and Fox cases. The network denies wrongdoing and maintains that its 2020 election coverage is protected by the First Amendment.

Persons: Smartmatic, “, ”, Newsmax, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Lindell, Chris Ruddy, ” Smartmatic, hadn’t, Biden, Ruddy, isn’t, Fox, Eric Bolling, Greta Van Susteren, Sebastian Gorka, Clinton, Dick Morris, ” Newsmax Organizations: Delaware CNN, Newsmax, Trump, Fox News, Delaware Superior Court, ”, Dominion Voting Systems, Fox, Trump White House, Dominion Locations: Wilmington, Delaware, Delaware Superior

☆ Right-wing outlets facing 2020 election defamation lawsuits may have found a key defense overseas
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Marshall Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —An alleged bribery scheme in the Philippines has thrown a potential lifeline to Fox News and other right-wing media outlets that are battling massive defamation lawsuits from the voting technology company Smartmatic for their promotion of 2020 election lies. The overseas scandal washed ashore last year when the Justice Department charged the Philippines’ former election commissioner with money laundering. Since then, Fox News, Newsmax and OAN have seized on the allegations, attempting to obtain new documents about potential wrongdoing by Smartmatic that could boost their defense. None of the allegations levied by US prosecutors in court filings pertain to vote-flipping or alleged rigging of election results. Last year, Fox paid a historic $787 million settlement with another election technology company, Dominion Voting Systems, for its promotion of similar election lies.

Persons: CNN —, Smartmatic, Newsmax, Donald Trump, Andres Bautista, Bautista, Fox, Nicolas Maduro, —, Smartmatic “, ”, Trump, “ Smartmatic, ” OAN, Eric Davis, OAN, “, OAN –, ” Smartmatic, hasn’t Organizations: CNN, Fox News, Justice Department, Trump, OAN, Philippine, Smartmatic, Fox, Dominion Voting, Lawyers Locations: Philippines, California, Venezuela, Manila, Smartmatic, Miami, Delaware, Brazil, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Belgium, Kenya, Oman, Switzerland, Taiwan

☆ Pro-Trump network OAN’s president solicited more info after receiving ‘stolen’ Smartmatic passwords, court documents allege
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Marshall Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The revelation builds on CNN’s previous reporting that OAN President Charles Herring forwarded the purported Smartmatic passwords to ex-Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell within days and later passed it to Mike Lindell. OAN denies defaming Smartmatic or anyone else, and its lawyers say nobody at OAN broke the law in connection with the alleged passwords. In a recent court filing, Smartmatic publicly disclosed – for the first time – the original email that OAN received on January 5, 2021, containing the alleged passwords. If you come across any addition (sic) information, please pass along,” according to emails made public in court filings. OAN handed over the emails to Smartmatic last year, but later claimed they were privileged and should be returned.

Persons: Charles Herring, Sidney Powell, Mike Lindell, Joe Biden, Smartmatic, OAN, defaming Smartmatic, Eric Coomer, Herring, tipster, –, ”, Powell, …, It’s, ’ Smartmatic, OAN “, Carl Butzer, “, Moxila Upadhyaya, OAN’s, Charles Babcock, Upadhyaya, Babcock, Oprah Winfrey, Bill O’Reilly, Phil Organizations: CNN, America, Trump, Voting Systems, Court, Fox News Locations: DC

☆ Pro-Trump network OAN execs may have ‘engaged in criminal activities’ while promoting 2020 election lies, Smartmatic alleges
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Marshall Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN pieced together who was involved in the email exchanges by examining court records from three separate cases stemming from the 2020 election. Baseless 2020 smearsSmartmatic has sued OAN, Powell, and other Trump allies and right-wing outlets, seeking billions of dollars in damages for their 2020 election lies. It’s unclear if the spreadsheet has any connections to the breach in rural Coffee County - which used software from Dominion Voting Systems, and not Smartmatic, in the 2020 election. One of its correspondents, who is also an attorney, even worked with Trump’s legal team to subvert the 2020 election results. The network, the two Herrings, and some of their on-air personalities are also being sued for defamation by Dominion, which was the target of similar 2020 election lies.

Persons: Trump, Sidney Powell, OAN, Smartmatic, “, Powell, Charles Herring, Herring, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, “ OAN, ‘, ”, Charles Babcock, Babcock, Erik Connolly, Trump’s, Robert Herring, Mike Lindell, Lindell, Charles, Lindell didn’t, Eric Coomer Organizations: CNN, America News, Smartmatic, Trump, OAN, Fox News, ” CNN, Dominion Voting Systems, Russian, Dominion, Lindell, DirecTV Locations: Philippines, Smartmatic, Coffee County, Coffee, Ukraine

☆ Judge shuts down Fox bid to look for links between George Soros and Smartmatic
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( Liam Reilly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice David B. Cohen rejected Fox Corp. and Fox News’ attempts to subpoena George Soros, his son Alex Soros, and their philanthropic organization Open Society Foundation (OSF) for documents related to the election defamation case. Fox argued that Alex and George Soros, as well as OSF, possess material necessary to the network’s defense in the defamation trial. The documentation, Fox argued, would establish a connection between George Soros and Smartmatic. “I base that on the finding that the crux of Smartmatic’s claims is that Fox has asserted they were part of rigging [the election], not that Smartmatic was affiliated with George Soros, Alex Soros, or the OSF,” Cohen said. “We’re interested in the closeness of the relationship, what Soros has done for Smartmatic over time,” Marks said.

Persons: George Soros, David B, Cohen, Fox News ’, Alex Soros, Soros, Fox, Alex, Smartmatic, ” Cohen, “, ”, ” Smartmatic, George, Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Trump, Sidney Powell, ” Aaron Marks, Mark Malloch, Brown, Giuliani, Powell, “ We’re, ” Marks, Marks, Benjamin McCallen, “ They’re, ” McCallen Organizations: CNN, Fox News, Manhattan, Fox Corp, Open Society Foundation, OSF, Fox, New, Soros, Trump Locations: York, Smartmatic, New York

☆ Smartmatic accuses Rudy Giuliani of ‘dog ate my homework’-style excuses to avoid turning over documents in defamation suit
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Marshall Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The approach by Smartmatic mimics what Giuliani has faced in another defamation lawsuit related to the 2020 election. After the 2020 election, Smartmatic sued Fox News, its parent corporation, several of its on-air hosts, Giuliani, and other pro-Trump entities and figures. The right-wing network paid $787 million to settle a similar lawsuit earlier this year from another electronic voting company, Dominion Voting Systems. The Smartmatic case is one of several fronts where Giuliani is facing intense legal scrutiny. The judge in that case has previously warned Giuliani that he might face severe sanctions for discovery-related issues that are similar to his alleged stonewalling in the Smartmatic case.

Persons: Smartmatic, Rudy Giuliani, ”, Giuliani, “, ’, ” Smartmatic, Jack Smith’s, Donald Trump, Polantz Organizations: CNN, Fox News, Giuliani, Trump, Dominion Voting Systems, Fox, Dominion, New Locations: New York, Georgia, Florida, United States, New York City

☆ Smartmatic could be Fox’s next big problem
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Fox News’ legal battle with Dominion Voting Systems is over. It now has to deal with Smartmatic, which is seeking billions of dollars more than its rival wanted in damages. Dominion wanted “only” $1.6 billion and settled with Fox for $787 million Tuesday. Both lawsuits focus on Fox News’ coverage of the 2020 election, including lies about voter fraud. “Dominion’s litigation exposed some of the misconduct and damage caused by Fox’s disinformation campaign,” Smartmatic lawyer Erik Connolly said in a statement after the settlement.

☆ Smartmatic wants more than Dominion’s $787 million payout, plus a retraction from Fox for its 2020 election lies, lawyer says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Marshall Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

(But in a press release, Fox publicly “acknowledged” that the judge in that case had concluded that all 20 on-air statements that Dominion sued over were false.) “That set down a marker and it’s a marker that we think we should be exceeding,” Connolly said. “The scope of the damage done to Smartmatic is a global scale, because we operate globally… $787 million is a good start. Smartmatic wants $2.7 billion from Fox and other Trump allies that it named in the lawsuit. “We will be ready to defend this case surrounding extremely newsworthy events when it goes to trial, likely in 2025,” a Fox spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday.

☆ What’s next for Fox and Dominion? More lawsuits seeking accountability for corrosive 2020 election lies
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Marshall Cohen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Wilmington, Delaware CNN —Dominion Voting Systems’ blockbuster defamation case against Fox News is over after the right-wing network cuts a check for a staggering $787 million, but there’s still an avalanche of pending lawsuits that are seeking accountability from the right-wing figures who championed false claims about the 2020 election. Smartmatic, another voting technology company, sued Fox for defamation following the 2020 election and is seeking $2.7 billion in damages from Fox and other defendants. Dominion still has a bevy of pending lawsuits against 2020 election deniers. “All of those decisions will have a huge bearing on those lawsuits as they play out,” Dominion lawyer Davida Brook told CNN Tuesday night. Dominion lawyer Justin Nelson added in a CNN interview that the Fox News settlement “sends a message to the other seven lawsuits that accountability is coming.”

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