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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
/
Pro-Trump network OAN and Smartmatic settle 2020 election defamation
case
By Marshall Cohen and Oliver Darcy, CNN
Updated:
4:37 PM EDT, Wed April 17, 2024
Source: CNN
Voting technology company Smartmatic and the far-right network One
America News said Tuesday that they had settled a defamation lawsuit
stemming from the outlet’s lies about the 2020 election.
“The case has been resolved pursuant to a confidential agreement,”
OAN attorney Chip Babcock told CNN.
Both parties declined to share details about the settlement.
The case against OAN was one of a spate of lawsuits filed against
right-wing outlets in the aftermath of the election. In the wake of the
2020 presidential contest, pro-Donald Trump outlets spread lies
wrongfully suggesting President Joe Biden had not been legitimately
elected president.
Smartmatic filed its lawsuit against OAN in 2021, alleging that the
right-wing conspiracy network “victimized” the company and spread
lies about its role in the 2020 election to “increase viewership and
revenue.”
The development comes one year after Fox News with Dominion Voting
Systems, another voting technology company that was similarly smeared
in 2020. Fox News paid more than $787 million to end that lawsuit,
becoming the largest publicly known defamation settlement in US
history.
Smartmatic still has pending lawsuit against Fox News, the smaller
conservative channel Newsmax, and several pro-Trump figures who also
pushed lies about the election.
OAN has established itself as perhaps of the pro-Trump cable news
outlets. And its reporters have sometimes crossed the line into
right-wing politicking.
The little-watched network has regularly given airtime to baseless
conspiracy theories that support Trump, most prominently about the 2020
election.
The channel with on a propaganda-style documentary during
Trump’s first impeachment in 2019 over allegations he pressured
Ukraine to investigate his political rivals. One of its correspondents,
who is also an attorney, even Trump’s legal team to subvert the
2020 election results.
OAN in September with former Dominion executive Eric Coomer, whose
case revealed how the network worked with former Trump campaign lawyer
Sidney Powell and others to lie about the election.
DirecTV from its lineup in 2022, dealing a significant blow to the
outlet, hitting the network’s viewership and revenue.
In its lawsuit, Smartmatic alleged OAN hosts and guests made dozens of
false claims about the company’s role in the 2020 election.
Personalities on the network repeatedly said Smartmatic software was
used in voting machines “in 30 states,” including battleground
states like Michigan and Pennsylvania. In reality, Smartmatic software
was only used in one California county.
Others on OAN claimed that Smartmatic’s software was “used to
switch votes from President Trump to Joe Biden,” and said the company
was engaged in digital “ballot-stuffing” to help Biden win. OAN
personalities also stretched the truth about Smartmatic’s past ties
to Venezuela to weave a baseless narrative that, “Maduro allies were
meddling in the latest US election through a company called
Smartmatic.”
The case was still in the discovery phase when the settlement was
reached.
Depositions were scheduled to take place Tuesday, according to a person
with knowledge of the matter. The person said depositions were
scheduled soon for OAN president Charles Herring and his brother Robert
Herring Jr., who is also an OAN executive — but those won’t happen
now that the case has concluded. Their father Robert Herring Sr., is a
wealthy California businessman who founded the network in 2013.
The Herrings were also within the lawsuit. Smartmatic claimed in
court filings that they may have “engaged in criminal activities”
by obtaining and sharing internal passwords of Smartmatic employees.
OAN denied , and there was never a judicial finding of wrongdoing
against the Herrings.
While the Smartmatic case is over, OAN still faces a separate
defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion over its promotion of 2020
election lies.
Correction: This story has been updated to accurately state who had
been scheduled for depositions in the Smartmatic-OAN case. It was
Charles Herring and Robert Herring Jr.
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