The MAGA network Newsmax has agreed to pay a whopping $67 million to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by the voting machine company Dominion over baseless claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged, a lie that their hero continues to this day. Note to Donald Trump: You can't pardon someone from a lawsuit. Just ask Fox News, the Trump-friendly network that had to fork over $787.5 million in 2023 to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems.
The Newsmax settlement averts what promised to be a high-profile trial.
NBC News reports:
Newsmax and Dominion Voting Systems agreed to the settlement on Friday, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The payments will be made in three installments by January 2027, the filing said.
"We are pleased to have settled this matter," a Dominion spokesperson said in response to a request for comment.
In a statement, Newsmax said it "believed it was critically important for the American people to hear both sides of the election disputes that arose in 2020."
"We stand by our coverage as fair, balanced, and conducted within professional standards of journalism," the company added in part.
Both sides, eh?
Via the New York Times:
In April, Judge Eric M. Davis of the Delaware Superior Court ruled that Dominion had presented "clear and convincing evidence" that the statements from Newsmax were false and defamatory, allowing the case to proceed to a trial.
The trial, where a jury would decide whether Newsmax had broadcast the claims despite knowing they were false and the extent of damages to Dominion, had been set for earlier this year but was postponed.
...
Newsmax settled a similar case brought by another voting technology company, Smartmatic, in September for $40 million.
Some cases are still underway. Fox News faces a $2.7 billion lawsuit from Smartmatic, which is set to proceed to trial in a Manhattan state court unless the parties reach a settlement. Fox has said it is willing to defend itself at trial, and it has criticized Smartmatic's damages claims as "intended to chill First Amendment freedoms."
Well, Fox, since you're interested in First Amendment freedoms, you might want to talk to Trump, who had a comedian fired for hurting his tender feewings, and he's champing at the bit to get more fired. Or how about his recent Truth Social post where he vowed to end MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace's career? I'll bet Fox was really unnerved by that.
Oh, and there's this from last month:
