In blow to Newsmax, judge rules Smartmatic’s case over 2020 election lies will go to trial this month

A major defamation case against Newsmax will proceed to trial later this month, a judge ruled Thursday, dealing a blow to the right-wing network and setting the stage for the 2020 election to be relitigated during the final stretch of the 2024 race.

A major defamation case against Newsmax will proceed to trial later this month, a judge ruled Thursday, dealing a blow to the right-wing network and setting the stage for the 2020 election to be relitigated during the final stretch of the 2024 race. Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis rejected Newsmax’s attempt to shut down the case, which was brought by the voting technology company Smartmatic, without even holding a trial. Instead, Davis concluded that key questions about Newsmax’s actions in 2020 would be weighed by a jury, barring a pre-trial settlement. “Newsmax reported on allegations regarding the Election and Smartmatic, but there remains a dispute as to whether Newsmax recklessly disregarded the truth,” Davis wrote. “The jury must determine if Newsmax was doing what media organizations typically do — inform the public of newsworthy events—or did Newsmax purposely avoid the truth and defame Smartmatic. The trial is scheduled to begin September 30. However, defamation cases like these are often resolved, even at the last minute, with an out-of-court settlement. The rulings come weeks after a major hearing where Smartmatic argued that Newsmax knowingly peddled the debunked lie that its machines were involved in rigging the 2020 election against Donald Trump. Newsmax argued that its actions in 2020 were protected by the First Amendment because it was covering newsworthy attempts to contest the results. In a partial victory for Newsmax, Davis kept alive one of the key defenses that the network hopes to present to the jury: that it was neutrally reporting on Trump’s election claims but was not endorsing them.