Newsmax to Pay $40 Million to Settle Smartmatic’s 2020 Election Defamation Lawsuit

Smartmatic, the voting machine company, sued Newsmax, along with Fox News and One America News, over the networks’ false reporting that Smartmatic switched votes to make them in favor of President Joe Biden. While a settlement was reached last year between Newsmax and Smartmatic, the $40 million amount paid was made public in a filing on March 7, as first reported by The Independent this week. Smartmatic also reached a settlement with One America News last year, though the amount has not been disclosed. Smartmatic’s lawsuit against Fox News remains ongoing. Fox News previously settled with Dominion ― a different voting machine company ― for $787 million in 2023. While Newsmax’s lawsuit with Smartmatic has been settled, the network is facing another lawsuit after it dismissed accurate reports that a mass shooter was a white supremacist, and shared an image of a man they incorrectly identified as the killer.

Conservative cable channel Newsmax has agreed to pay $40 million to settle a 2020 election defamation lawsuit brought by voting systems software company Smartmatic, according to a new regulatory filing. Smartmatic accused Newsmax of reporting false claims that it helped rig the election for Joe Biden over Donald Trump.

Last year, Newsmax admitted in a statement—as part of the settlement agreement—that the court declared allegations about Smartmatic’s involvement in altering election outcomes to be false. The disclosure of these payment details sheds light on previously confidential aspects of the settlement. Discussions on such confidential terms were not part of the public record when the lawsuit was initially resolved just before it went to trial.This is not the first defamation case faced by Smartmatic. The company reached a separate settlement in April with One America News, although the terms of that agreement remain undisclosed. Smartmatic is currently engaged in a similar defamation lawsuit against Fox News.