A voting machine company’s defamation lawsuit against Newsmax appears to be headed toward trial following a Delaware judge’s ruling on Thursday.
Florida-based Smartmatic accused Newsmax and other conservative media outlets of airing defamatory statements that implied the company rigged the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Newsmax argued it was reporting on newsworthy allegations made by former President Trump and his allies, though the company previously issued a clarification saying “not reported as true certain claims made about these companies.”
Newsmax and Smartmatic asked Superior Court Judge Eric Davis to rule in their favor without the case going to trial. Davis granted partial summary judgment but said a jury will decide key issues. The trial is scheduled to start Sept. 30, The Associated Press reported.
Smartmatic has maintained it provided election machinery and software for the 2020 election only in Los Angeles, not where Trump and his supporters contested the results.
Smartmatic’s lawsuit against Newsmax is similar to one filed against One America News Network (OANN). Smartmatic and OANN had “resolved its litigation” in April through a “confidential settlement.” Smartmatic’s defamation litigation against Fox News is still pending.
The judge said Thursday that not every allegedly defamatory statement by Newsmax against the voting company was materially false, meaning he would allow the media organization to “contest falsity” Smartmatic’s connections with Venezuela, which Newsmax made statements about.
A federal grand jury in Florida indicted three current and former Smartmatic executives for a $1 million scheme to put voting machines in the Philippines. Newsmax detailed Smartmatic’s “checkered history” in court papers, the AP reported.
Davis ruled Smartmatic is a “limited public figure,” meaning for defamation, the company must show Newsmax acted with “actual malice” by purposefully disregarding the truth. He also determined that Newsmax could assert a “neutral reporting privilege,” which the company says it did since the statements of election fraud were made by third parties on non-Newsmax platforms.
Still, the judge determined there was no evidence that Newsmax acted with “evil intent.” A jury must decide whether the company acted with actual malice and whether Smartmatic is entitled to damages, Davis ruled Thursday, according to the AP.
Smartmatic said it “very much” looks forward to explaining the company’s losses to a jury to receive damages, though it’s unlikely Newsmax would want the case to go before a jury and could settle before it gets to that point.
In a statement to The Hill, Smartmatic said it will continue to review the ruling but argues Newsmax knew it was reporting false allegations.
“Smartmatic is pleased to have the opportunity to prove this to a jury in court,” Erik Connolly, Smartmatic’s lead trial attorney, said in a statement. “The court’s decision is the latest victory for Smartmatic in the lawsuits it has filed against individuals and media organizations that defamed the company following the 2020 US election.”
Newsmax previously told The Hill the company itself never made “a claim of impropriety about Smartmatic, its ownership or software.”
The Hill has reached out to Newsmax for comment about Thursday’s ruling, but the company accused Davis of hampering with the free press in a statement to CNN.
“While Newsmax is disappointed that any part of Smartmatic’s lawsuit is going to trail, as we believe it is a threat to a free press, we are pleased that the Court found no evidence that Newsmax acted with evil intent toward Smartmatic and that the neutral and fair reporting privileges are available to Newsmax at trial,” spokesperson Bill Daddi said in a statement to CNN.
The Associated Press contributed.