Newsmax Pays $40M to Settle Smartmatic Defamation Suit

Conservative cable channel Newsmax paid $40 million to settle a 2020 election defamation lawsuit brought by voting systems software provider Smartmatic out of court, a new filing shows.

The payment, which was reported Thursday by Reuters, citing a regulatory filing, comes just months after the two sides agreed to settle Smartmatic’s defamation claim stemming from Newsmax’s coverage of the presidential contest.

Newsmax declined to comment on the settlement, but in a November statement said it “acknowledges that the Court found that allegations regarding whether the [2020 U.S. presidential election] and its results were somehow altered or manipulated by Smartmatic are factually false/untrue.”

Smartmatic had argued in court filings the conservative cable channel damaged its reputation by airing false claims about its software being promoted by top allies of President Trump such as Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani.

Smartmatic remains in litigation with Fox News, which settled a separate defamation lawsuit voting systems provider, Dominion, for $787 million in 2023.