Smartmatic has settled a defamation lawsuit against right-wing television network One America News for falsely claiming the voting technology company rigged the 2020 U.S. presidential election to help Joe Biden defeat Donald Trump.
Smartmatic attorney Erik Connolly said the terms of the settlement are confidential, but the company voluntarily dismissed a lawsuit filed against OAN in Washington in 2021.
Smartmatic has estimated that OAN’s false claims wiped out much of its business value, bringing it down from more than $3 billion to less than $1 billion.
Chip Babcock, an attorney for OAN, also confirmed the settlement but did not provide details.
The lawsuit is one of several accusing right-wing or conservative-leaning outlets of spreading lies about the election to attract ratings and boost advertising revenue.
Smartmatic’s election coverage of Fox News and Newsmax remains pending. It is seeking $2.7 billion in damages in the Fox lawsuit.
Voting technology company Dominion Voting Systems reached a $787.5 million settlement with Fox last April, just as the trial was about to begin.
OAN has positioned itself to the right of Fox and Newsmax, at times spreading conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol and vaccine safety.
The company took a financial hit in 2022 when Verizon and AT&T’s DirecTV stopped airing its programming.
Boca Raton, Florida-based Smartmatic accused OAN of causing irreparable harm by “spreading disinformation about the election and its technology.”
The statement said San Diego-based OAN has eroded trust in the democratic process and abandoned the promise of its owner, Herring Networks President Charles Herring, to provide “reliable, credible, fact-based, substantive news”.
OAN said in court papers that awarding Smartmatic more than $2 billion would remove “yet another (albeit conservative) voice” from what the U.S. Supreme Court calls the “marketplace of ideas” protected by the First Amendment.
Republican Trump hopes to take back the White House from Democrat Joe Biden in a November rematch.
The case is Smartmatic USA Corp et al. v. Herring Networks Inc, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, No. 21-02
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