Newsmax Claims Smartmatic Vote-Rigging Theory Wasn’t ‘Inherently Incredible’

Conservative outlet asks judge to toss Smartmatic libel suit
Smartmatic sued Newsmax over airing of stolen-election claims

Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell at the Republican National Committee headquarters on Nov. 19, 2020.Photographer: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images

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By Erik Larson

June 14, 2022 at 12:12 PM UTC

Updated on

June 14, 2022 at 9:35 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Smartmatic Corp.’s defamation suit against Newsmax Media Inc. over false reports that the voting technology company rigged the 2020 presidential election should be dismissed because there was “nothing inherently incredible” about the theory, the network told a judge.

At issue is the conservative media outlet’s reporting on claims made after the election by former president Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani and former Trump campaign attorney Sidney Powell, among others. They asserted on Newsmax and other conservative outlets that Smartmatic had ties to Venezuela’s socialist leaders, including the late former president Hugo Chavez, and that its software was installed on Dominion Voting Systems Inc. machines to flip millions of votes from Trump to Joe Biden in swing states.