On Aug. 22, Newsmax posted an article it called a “Newsmax Update on Litigation”:
In September 2024, Newsmax Media, Inc. resolved the litigation brought by Smartmatic through a confidential settlement. This settlement followed several years of discovery between Smartmatic and Newsmax, including document production, deposition testimony, and expert discovery.
Newsmax again 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.” Newsmax reiterates its statement of December 2020 that made clear that it has no evidence that Smartmatic machines or software altered the votes in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
Smartmatic is a U.S. company not owned by the Venezuelan government, or any foreign official or entity.
Newsmax further acknowledges that: (1) During the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Smartmatic only provided technology and services to Los Angeles County, and Smartmatic did not provide any technology or services outside of Los Angeles County in connection with the 2020 U.S. presidential election; (2) According to Los Angeles County, votes cast in Los Angeles County in the 2020 presidential election were counted by Los Angeles County using technology developed by a third party (and not Smartmatic), and those votes were not sent overseas to be counted; and (3) Statements regarding Smartmatic voting machines used in Los Angeles County altering the outcome of the 2020 U.S. presidential election are factually false.
Strangely, this article has remained near the bottom of Newsmax’s front page for the past couple weeks — which tells us this was likely mandated as a part of the settlement Newsmax reached with Smartmatic last fall. As we noted, Newsmax clammed up about the lawsuit after announcing the settlement, and it wasn’t until this past spring that we learned Newsmax paid Smartmatic $40 million as part of the settlement.
The article’s timing is a bit interesting as well. It was published a few days after Newsmax announced a $67 million settlement with another voting-tech company, Dominion, though it was not nearly as contrite about that settlement as it has been with Smartmatic, refusing to concede it did anything wrong in its Dominion coverage. It also came a couple days after a filing by Smartmatic was unredacted in its similar defamation lawsuit against Fox News, which revealed embarrassing private messages from current and former Fox News hosts and officials, which included Jeanine Pirro bragging what a Trump suck-up she was and Jesse Watters declaring that going all-in on Trump’s fraudulent election fraud claims would be a “ratings bonanza” for Fox News.
So Newsmax’s article could be as much of a Fox News tweak as it is a legal requirement — though it’s still odd that Newsmax would wait that long to fulfill that requirement.