Fox News personality Maria Bartiromo (Photo: Screen capture)
Fox News' ongoing efforts to stop the lawsuit by electronic voting equipment company Smartmatic failed this week when it lost its appeal for a "stay" and a motion to "vacate" the case.
A stay is a temporary pause of the lawsuit and a motion to vacate is a request for the judge to cancel all previous court orders.
Smartmatic is suing over what it alleges were false allegations about its electronic voting equipment in the wake of the 2020 election. Each part of the case has exposed details about what Fox staff and on-air talent have said under oath that could undermine Fox's defense.
Fox has been working to stop the lawsuit every step of the way, including fighting interviews with its team, the discovery of emails and text messages.
“Smartmatic welcomes the appellate court’s decision denying Fox’s latest attempt to delay this case. For years, courts have repeatedly rejected Fox’s efforts to avoid accountability," the company said in a statement to AlterNet. "The facts have not changed: Fox knowingly spread false claims about Smartmatic, causing severe harm to the company and undermining public trust in elections, and has never apologized. We look forward to continuing toward trial and presenting the truth before a jury.”
In a ruling published Thursday, the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, wrote that they "denied the motion of defendants Fox Corporation, Fox News Network, LLC, DebiDobbs, as Administrator of the Estate of Lou Dobbs, deceased, Maria Bartiromo, and Jeanine Pirro to vacate, in part, Judicial Hearing Officer Alan Marin’s October 14, 2025 report, and denied their separate motion to stay the action pending resolution of aseparate criminal proceeding against plaintiff SGO Corporation Limited (Smartmatic) and vacate the Note of Issue ..."
Conservative outlets are painting it as a success because the court also allowed for additional discovery to move forward. The report said that Fox will be allowed to obtain any information from Smartmatic about the impact of a recent case against the company brought by President Donald Trump's Justice Department.
The additional discovery was granted only after Fox lost its case to pause the suit. The court docket shows several dozen requests that Fox has made over the past year. While they have succeeded in drawing out the case and delaying a trial, they haven't been successful in putting an end to the case.
Smartmatic has alleged that attacks on the company by Fox and its on-air talent after the 2020 election significantly harmed its reputation. So, they sued for defamation, alleging $2.7 billion in damages. Court filings have cited numerous examples of Fox News personalities who knew that Trump lost the 2020 election. Still continued to repeat conspiracy theories about it and went further, falsely alleging Smartmatic was in on a huge international conspiracy that included Venezuela.
Smartmatic's lawsuit was filed long before the Justice Department filed charges.
Newsmax and One America News settled with Smartmatic, but the two continue to fight over the defamation suit. Smartmatic posted documents in November that revealed the testimony of a finance and damages expert.
Financial expert Christopher James submitted a report on Feb. 15, 2024, that used a formula to calculate the damages he feels Fox Corp. caused in its ongoing attacks against Smartmatic. The document, released at the time, was a June 12, 2025, update to that initial report. The Smartmatic expert testified that the damages from 2021-2025 totaled $526.2 million in lost profits and $165.4 million in expected profits from U.S. markets.
Last November, The Guardian reported that President Donald Trump's Justice Department would begin an investigation into conspiracy theories that allege Venezuela had a role in somehow rigging the election.
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell has complained that after his case with Smartmatic, he's in financial ruin.