Fox Can Challenge Smartmatic's $2.7 Billion Defamation Claim Over 2020 Election
- Fox claims Smartmatic overstated damage from 2020 broadcasts
- Judge declines to throw out those claims amid defamation suit
People walk by the News Corporation headquarters in New York City.
Photographer: Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesFox Corp. can proceed with its claims that Smartmatic Corp.’s $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit wildly exaggerates the financial harm it suffered from broadcasts falsely accusing it of rigging the 2020 US election, a New York judge ruled.
Rejecting the voting machine firm’s request to toss out Fox’s counterclaims, Justice David B. Cohen on Tuesday ruled that Fox can argue Smartmatic is trying to chill its free speech rights with the giant lawsuit.