'Falsely published lies': Judges deny Fox News’ attempt to silence voting tech firm’s defamation case

15 February 2023

Judges on New York Supreme Court Appellate Court ruled against Fox News' attempt to end a $2.7 billion defamation case brought against the network by voting technology company Smartmatic, Associated Press (AP) reports.

Smartmatic sued Fox News hosts Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro, former host Lou Dobbs and former President Donald Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell in 2021 "falsely [accusing] the company of helping rig the U.S. presidential election in favor of Democrat Joe Biden," Reuters reported.

Per AP, Powell was excused from the case "because she doesn’t have ties to New York, where the case was filed," but the judges did find “'significant allegations" that attorneys Guiliani and Powell maligned the voting-tech firm.

The right-leaning news network argues it exercised its First Amendment right to free speech by claiming "it was informing the public about newsworthy, if controversial, claims from an important figure about a matter of public concern."

However, the voting-tech company contends the network and the hosts "repeatedly allowed Trump’s lawyers to falsely portray Smartmatic as a foreign company involved in a sprawling, multi-state operation to 'flip' votes to Biden from the Republican incumbent," according to AP.

Fox News referred to the firm's claims as “outrageous” and “nothing more than a flagrant attempt to deter our journalists from doing their jobs."

Furthermore, the network claimed, “There is nothing more newsworthy than covering the president of the United States and his lawyers making allegations of voter fraud.

"Fox News, its news anchors and guests knowingly and falsely published lies,” Smartmatic attorney J. Erik Connolly said in a statement.

The five-judge panel wrote in their unanimous decision, "The complaint alleges in detailed fashion that in their coverage and commentary, Fox News, Dobbs, and Bartiromo effectively endorsed and participated in the statements with reckless disregard for, or serious doubts about." And, according to AP, referencing "the same reasoning," the judges "also reinstated Smartmatic’s claims against Pirro, which a lower court had thrown out."

Another voting-tech firm, Dominion Voting System recently slammed Fox News for failing to provide evidence of alleged voter fraud during the 2020 election, according to CNBC.

The full report from Associated Press is available to read at this link.

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