Smartmatic, the voting software company that Donald Trump’s lawyers falsely accused of manipulating vote counts in the 2020 presidential election, has filed a $2.7-billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News and three of its on-air hosts — Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs and Jeanine Pirro — who presented the disinformation on their programs.
The suit filed Thursday in New York State Supreme Court also names Trump’s lawyers Sidney Powell and Rudolph Giuliani, who were frequent guests on Fox News programs in the weeks after the November election, which the former president insisted was rigged against him to elect President Biden.
Smartmatic, which is based in London, said Trump’s lawyers and the Fox News anchors presented false conspiracy theories and accusations about the company’s role in the election that damaged its reputation.
“The election was not stolen, rigged, or fixed,” the suit states. “These are facts. They are demonstrable and irrefutable. Defendants have always known these facts. They knew Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the 2020 U.S. election. They knew the election was not stolen. They knew the election was not rigged or fixed. They knew these truths just as they knew the Earth is round and two plus two equals four.”
After Fox News hosts presented the claims by Powell and Giuliani with virtually no pushback, Smartmatic officers received hate mail and death threats and clients panicked, the suit said.
“The company’s reputation for providing transparent, auditable, and secure election technology and software was irreparably harmed,” the suit said. “Overnight, Smartmatic went from an under-the-radar election technology and software company with a track record of success to the villain in [the] Defendants’ disinformation campaign.”
A statement from Fox News Media denied any wrongdoing.
“Fox News Media is committed to providing the full context of every story with in-depth reporting and clear opinion,” the company said. “We are proud of our 2020 election coverage and will vigorously defend this meritless lawsuit in court.”
Fox News had been warned that Smartmatic was considering legal action and issued a video “fact check” that had a voting expert dispute many of the claims presented on its programs.
