Fox News‘ last-minute decision to pay nearly $800 million to avert a trial over accusations it defamed Dominion Voting System by broadcasting false statements that the 2020 presidential election was stolen is paying off.
A New York state supreme court judge, in an order issued on Wednesday, found that Smartmatic must face Fox News’ counterclaims accusing the voting machine company of trying to suppress the network’s speech by bringing a $2.7 billion lawsuit. The court grounded the reasoning, in part, on the absence of a verdict concluding that Fox News defamed Dominion Voting Systems.
“There remained a triable issue of fact for trial in that action as to whether defendants acted with actual malice, which is an element that plaintiffs need to prove here as well,” the order stated.
But in a win for Smartmatic, New York Supreme Justice David Cohen refused to dismiss its suit against Fox. He found that the company “sufficiently alleged” that the network’s employees “played an affirmative role in the publication of the defamation at issue.”
“Moreover, plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged that Corp. employees acted with malice by purposely and deliberating publishing knowingly false stories about plaintiffs in order to benefit Corp.’s financial interests,” Cohen wrote.
Despite a $788 million settlement to resolve a similar suit brought by Dominion Voting Systems, Fox continues to face mounting legal troubles over broadcasting far-right conspiracy theories that the 2020 election was stolen with the help of voting technology companies. Last year, Fox Corp.’s board of directors was sued for allegedly adopting a business model centered on chasing profits by intentionally broadcasting falsehoods and disregarding the risk of exposing itself to defamation claims.
The dispute centers on allegations that Fox, in an attempt to boost ratings, capitalized on the popularity of former President Donald Trump by fabricating a narrative that Smartmatic caused him to unfairly lose the election.
The defamatory statements at issue in the case: Smartmatic is a Venezuelan company under the control of corrupt dictators from socialist and communist countries; its election technology was used in six swing states with close outcomes; its software was designed to “rig” elections, and did so by switching votes; and that the company had been banned from participating in prior elections in the United States.
After the court in 2022 refused to dismiss the suit, Fox filed a counterclaim under a New York law allowing for the early dismissal of complaints intended to chill free speech. It argued that the request for over $2.7 billion is exaggerated and meant to stifle its First Amendment rights.
While the judge found that Smartmatic’s suit has a “substantial basis in law,” he found that the company failed to establish that there’s a “binding determination” that its claims are valid.
“Defendants’ argument here is that plaintiffs’ alleged damages are so extenuated from their actual lost profits that they were pleaded and/or sought in order to chill defendants’ free speech rights,” the order stated. “That argument has not yet been adjudicated in any court.”
Even if the court’s decision in favor of Dominion on summary judgment does apply to this case, which he clarified it does not, Cohen said that there was still a “triable issue of fact” over whether Fox acted with actual malice — an element to defamation that Smartmatic will also have to prove in its suit.
The court’s order issued on Wednesday advanced claims from both sides. Declining to dismiss the suit against Fox, Cohen pointed to allegations against executives accused of participating in the alleged scheme, including former chairman Rupert Murdoch and his successor, Lachlan Murdoch. The Murdochs were alleged to have full editorial control and decision-making authority over the network, with the authority to run a correction or retraction.
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January 25, 2024 at 09:05AM
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Fox News, Smartmatic Handed Wins in Dueling Claims Over Election Falsehoods - Hollywood Reporter
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