Newsmax Moves to Dismiss Smartmatic’s Defamation Lawsuit as Meritless
June 25 2024 - 6:46PM
Business Wire
Today, Newsmax Media, Inc. filed a publicly available version of
its motion for summary judgment with the Superior Court of
Delaware, asking the Court to dismiss in its entirety Smartmatic’s
defamation lawsuit against Newsmax. (The motion was originally
filed on a confidential basis on June 7, 2024.) Newsmax Summary
Judgement motion attached.
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In its motion, Newsmax argues that Smartmatic’s lawsuit is
meritless and endangers First Amendment press freedoms.
The motion details Smartmatic’s years-long history of
controversies. This includes Smartmatic’s involvement in an ongoing
federal criminal case that alleges the company engaged in a money
laundering and bribery scheme involving a foreign election
official.
Newsmax asserts that such history bars completely Smartmatic’s
claim for any damages, let alone the more than one billion dollars
it seeks.
Newsmax also argues that, under Florida law, its reporting of
the controversy surrounding the 2020 election is protected by the
neutral reporting and fair reporting privileges. These privileges
ensure that news organizations like Newsmax are protected when
reporting on matters of great public interest, like a Presidential
election. This is true even if participants in the controversy,
such as the President or his surrogates, make claims that later
turn out to be unsupported.
Under the First Amendment, it is considered critically important
to the protection of our democracy for the news media to be able to
report in real time what is being said by public officials and
their representatives, without fear of being sued by a party to the
controversy.
In a previous motion before the Delaware court, Smartmatic
opposed the application of Florida law to its lawsuit. The court
ruled against Smartmatic.
In its summary judgment motion, Newsmax also argues that
Smartmatic fails to meet even the most basic criteria for a
defamation action.
Notably, Smartmatic fails to meet its burden of proving that
Newsmax published its news accounts with a knowing or reckless
disregard of their falsity.
Additionally, Smartmatic cannot prove that it has suffered any
damages at all caused by anything published by Newsmax.
Newsmax’s motion explains Smartmatic’s long history of
controversy and reputational issues. This includes Smartmatic’s
first major contract in Venezuela obtained during the Chavez
regime. The issues also include Smartmatic’s decision to sell a
United States subsidiary after the Committee on Foreign Investment
in the United States (CFIUS) raised questions about Smartmatic’s
ownership.
A more recent controversy is Smartmatic and several of its
executives’ alleged involvement in a scheme to bribe the former
head of the Filipino election commission by paying him $4 million
in order to win almost $200 million in election contracts. The
former official, Juan Andres Donato Bautista, is currently facing
federal criminal charges in Florida related to this alleged scheme.
A federal grand jury investigation into Smartmatic and its
executives is ongoing.
Separately from its summary judgment motion, Newsmax recently
moved for sanctions against Smartmatic for its alleged failure to
timely produce documents related to the federal criminal
investigation. The motion also addresses Smartmatic’s alleged false
representations to the Court about the availability of those
documents in discovery.
Newsmax anticipates that the court will hold argument and then
rule on Newsmax’s motion for summary judgment in the next few
months, prior to the scheduled September trial.
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Bill Daddi bill@daddibrand.com