A leading voting machine manufacturer recently unveiled multiple threats made against its employees as part of its ongoing defamation lawsuit against Fox News.
The Washington Post reported Wednesday on the latest federal court filing by Smartmatic, which is seeking $2.7 billion in damages from the leading conservative cable news network. Smartmatic alleged that the company's false claims about its machines being rigged in favor of former President Joe Biden caused significant harm to the company's finances and reputation, and resulted in the company having to lay off hundreds of employees.
In its most recent filing, Smartmatic alleged that the company made a choice to "lean into election fraud claims they personally believed were baseless" in response to backlash from its audience after it preemptively put Arizona in Biden's win column before any other major networks. That backlash included President Donald Trump instructing his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to call Newscorp chairman Rupert Murdoch and urge him to withdraw the early projection.
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The company further alleged that Fox News' on-air talent made knowingly false claims about its machines, which resulted in a wave of death threats from viewers. One threat read: "The only way to resolve your interference with Western democracy is to shoot dead your company executives." Another viewer warned Smartmatic: "You lot are in for a rude awakening."
"You will be hunted," another threat read.
Smartmatic has been litigating its suit since 2021, and has already won settlements from far-right outlets that defamed the company in its coverage including Newsmax and One America News Network. The company has said it doesn't plan to settle with Fox and is aiming to win a judgment for the full $2.7 billion its seeking.
William & Mary Law School constitutional law professor Timothy Zick told the Post that Smartmatic was in for an uphill battle, as it would need to prove the network acted with "actual malice" and knowingly lied to its audience about the company's machines. Voting machine company Dominion Voting Systems settled a similar lawsuit with Fox News for $787 million last year.
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