Newsmax Media has reportedly reached a settlement with Smartmatic, the voting machine manufacturer that had taken legal action against the media company over false claims linked to the 2020 U.S. presidential election. The settlement, which remains confidential, has put an end to the high-profile lawsuit just as it was set to proceed to a jury trial.
The lawsuit had accused Newsmax of promoting baseless allegations that Smartmatic’s voting machines were part of a scheme to manipulate the election results in favor of Joe Biden, costing Donald Trump the presidency. The legal battle had been building for months and was poised to begin in Wilmington, Delaware, with a trial scheduled for September 30.
In a joint announcement, both companies expressed satisfaction over the resolution. “Newsmax is pleased to announce it has resolved the litigation brought by Smartmatic through a confidential settlement,” the company stated. Smartmatic’s response carried a sterner tone: “Lying to the American people has consequences. Smartmatic will not stop until the perpetrators are held accountable.”
Smartmatic’s lawsuit, initially filed in 2021, centered on accusations that Newsmax knowingly broadcast false information, including claims that the company’s machines had been tampered with, hacked, or were linked to corrupt governments. The claims, which gained traction among Trump’s supporters, also found a platform on Newsmax, where Trump’s unfounded allegations were frequently amplified. According to Smartmatic, the network’s viewership skyrocketed in the aftermath of the election, with audience numbers multiplying tenfold, surpassing several cable news competitors. Smartmatic argued that this surge in popularity directly benefited from the misinformation spread by the network.
Despite being dragged into the 2020 election controversy, Smartmatic’s actual involvement in the U.S. election was minimal. Its machines were used only in Los Angeles County, and the company has consistently maintained that its equipment has never suffered a security breach. The bulk of Smartmatic’s voting systems have been deployed internationally, having recorded billions of votes in other countries.
Newsmax, for its part, has defended its reporting on the grounds of the First Amendment, asserting its right to cover claims made by Trump and his legal team, which were often repeated in court filings challenging the election. The network also pointed out that in December 2020, it offered Smartmatic representatives a chance to appear on air and share their perspective with the audience, an invitation the company declined. Newsmax described its overall coverage of the voting machine company as “minor.”
While the precise financial terms of the settlement have not been made public, court filings reveal that Smartmatic had been seeking between $400 million and $600 million in damages. Newsmax, which had $67 million in assets by the end of 2022, had referred to the lawsuit as “bet your company” litigation, indicating the potentially devastating consequences a court loss could have had for the media company. Newsmax is also considering a public stock offering in the near future, with potential plans to go public in 2025.
Smartmatic is still pursuing a $2.7 billion lawsuit against Fox Corp and Fox News, also in connection with false claims regarding the 2020 election. “We are now looking forward to our day in court against Fox Corp and Fox News for their disinformation campaign,” the company remarked.
Last year, Fox agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems $787.5 million in a settlement, the largest defamation payout ever made by a U.S. media company. Dominion is also suing Newsmax, with up to $1.6 billion in damages on the line. Additionally, Rudy Giuliani, one of Trump’s most vocal attorneys, was ordered to pay more than $148 million in damages to two Georgia election workers he defamed through false accusations, though he has since appealed the decision.
