Last February, Smartmatic – a company that produces voting machines – sued FOX Corporation and other co-defendants for disparagement and defamation regarding election fraud claims. FOX tried to get the case dismissed, but a judge Tuesday rejected the attempt.
New York State Supreme Court Judge David Cohen rejected multiple Motions to Dismiss filed by FOX Corporation, commentator Lou Dobbs, host Maria Bartiromo and former attorney Rudy Giuliani.
Although former President Donald Trump and some of his supporters have continued pushing claims of election fraud related to the 2020 presidential election, no evidence of “rigging” or fraud has been found.
“I think his attitude probably is it either was stolen or if it wasn’t stolen I want people to believe it was stolen,” William Barr, who served as attorney general under Trump, said recently, according to NBC News. “It’s useful. I'm not sure he’s, you know, really fixated on finding out what the truth is there.”
Overall, the Smartmatic suit filed last year in the State Supreme Court of New York seeks $2.7 billion as well as punitive damages and other relief from FOX for perpetrating election fraud theories related to the company.
“The Earth is round. Two plus two equals four. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the 2020 election for President and Vice President of the United States. The election was not stolen, rigged, or fixed. These are facts.
They are demonstrable and irrefutable,” said the complaint.
“Having invented their story, and created their villain, Defendants set about spreading the word. In November and December 2020, FOX News broadcasted [13] reports stating and implying that Smartmatic had stolen the 2020 U.S. election,” it continued. “They repeated the story in articles and social media postings. Night after night, publication after publication, FOX News reached out to its millions of viewers and readers around the world with a story: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris did not win the 2020 election; Smartmatic stole the election for them.”
Smartmatic claims that its reputation has been harmed and that employees received death threats.
“FOX’s and the other defendants’ lies had consequences; not only for my company but for the integrity of elections and the people who administer them,” said Antonio Mugica, CEO of Smartmatic. “FOX’s reckless disregard for truth has caused debilitating harm to our ability to conduct our business globally as well as in the United States. We look forward to our day in court.”
FOX attempted to dismiss claims by “asserting that there is no viable claim against it since it merely reported on newsworthy events surrounding President Trump’s unconventional efforts to challenge the results of the election.”
“Given the questionable sources of much of this information, as well as the gravity and unprecedented nature of the claims against [Smartmatic], a jury could determine that these claims were fabricated or, at the very least, that there were reasons to doubt the sources of this information.” Cohen wrote.
While Cohen dismissed many of the motions, he did dismiss claims against Jeanine Pirro, another FOX News host, attorney Sidney Powell, and some of the claims against Giuliani.
“Smartmatic had already filed a lawsuit against Ms. Powell in Washington, D.C. in case this occurred, and the D.C. Court has already found it has jurisdiction over Ms. Powell in other litigation,” said the company Tuesday in a statement. “Smartmatic will continue to pursue its claims against Ms. Powell, either by appeal in New York or in D.C.”
FOX intends to appeal Cohen’s decision to reject the Motions to Dismiss, according to Deadline.
“While we are gratified that Judge Cohen dismissed Smartmatic’s claims against Jeanine Pirro at this early stage, we still plan to appeal the ruling immediately,” the company said in a statement. “We will also continue to litigate these baseless claims by filing a counterclaim for fees and costs under New York’s anti-SLAPP statute to prevent the full-blown assault on the First Amendment which stands in stark contrast to the highest tradition of American journalism.”
Cohen scheduled a preliminary conference for May 18.
FOX News is also being sued by Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic has filed defamation suits against others, including Michael J. Lindell and his company My Pillow, Newsmax and OANN.
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