1 week Ago
The pro-Trump channel Newsmax defamed Dominion Voting Systems by falsely accusing the company of rigging the 2020 presidential election, a Delaware judge ruled Wednesday. But it’ll be up to a jury to decide whether Newsmax intentionally smeared Dominion and must pay millions of dollars in damages. Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis handed down several key pretrial rulings in Dominion’s favor, weeks before a jury trial that is scheduled to begin on April 28.
An out-of-court settlement is always possible. That’s how Dominion’s similar lawsuit against Fox News ended in 2023, with a record-breaking $787 million agreement . As he did in the Fox News case , Davis ruled that all of the allegations that Dominion committed massive electoral fraud in 2020 were false.
He also concluded that these allegations weren’t presented on Newsmax as matters of “pure opinion” from hosts or guests, which would’ve given them more protections under the First Amendment. “We are gratified by the Court’s thorough ruling,” a Dominion spokesperson said. CNN has reached out to Newsmax for comment.
The network denies wrongdoing and has repeatedly pointed out that it ran a “clarification” segment in December 2020, and posted an article online, saying it didn’t have evidence that Dominion manipulated any votes. Taken together, the rulings increase the chances that Newsmax might feel compelled to settle the case instead of rolling its dice with a jury that might award significant damages to Dominion. The voting technology company is asking for more than $1 billion, which Newsmax’s lawyers have argued is a massively inflated figure detached from real losses.
The case stems from false on-air allegations from Newsmax hosts and guests that Dominion colluded with Democratic operatives to manipulate millions of votes in 2020, flipping votes from President Donald Trump in order to elect then-candidate Joe Biden. Newsmax, which is led by Trump ally Chris Ruddy, launched its initial public offering last week. If a trial does happen, Ruddy and some of the network’s TV hosts, like Greg Kelly and Chris Salcedo, are expected to testify.
Newsmax agreed in September to pay $40 million to settle a lawsuit from Smartmatic, another voting company that was similarly smeared..
