Smartmatic Execs Accused In Election Bribery Scheme — Company Suing Fox News Denies Wrongdoing

According to a new court filing, executives for subsidiaries of Smartmatic — the company suing Fox News for defamation — are accused as uncharged co-conspirators in a bribery case. The company denies wrongdoing.

Fox News agreed to a settlement in April that included a $787.5 million payout in the Dominion Voting Systems defamation suit that was just about to play out in a weeks-long trial after volumes of damaging revelations were publicized pretrial.

But Fox is also the target in the $2.7 billion Smartmatic lawsuit, in which Smartmatic lead counsel Erik Connolly has already said he will demand a full retraction and apology from Fox.

On Friday, CNN reported that executives for Smartmatic subsidiaries have been accused as unindicted co-conspirators in a bribery case against Former Philippines Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Andres Bautista:

Smartmatic, the voting technology company suing Fox News and former President Donald Trump’s top allies over their false claims that its machines rigged the 2020 election, was implicated in an alleged bribery scheme involving the former top election official in the Philippines, according to court filings obtained by CNN.

The court documents indicate that the Justice Department has filed money laundering charges against former Filipino election administrator Andres Bautista – and that four executives from Smartmatic subsidiaries are implicated as uncharged co-conspirators.

Bautista denied the charges in a series of tweets, and the company issued a statement similarly denying wrongdoing:

In a statement, the company maintained that it “has adhered to the Philippine Procurement Law and the strict controls that the Philippine Commission on Elections imposes” in every bidding process and procurement procedure.

“Winning a bid in the Philippines is never solely one individual’s preference or decision. Instead, multiple technical evaluations are conducted by committees, ensuring that the bidders comply with all the requirements specified in the Terms of Reference,” it said.

Smartmatic said all of these assessments are presented to a bids and awards committee, which recommends to the Comelec to ultimately decide the successful bidder.

“Dozens of technical, commercial and administrative officials have a say in selecting the provider. Over the years Smartmatic has both won and lost bids In the Philippines. It is important to note that nothing about this investigation has anything to do with election security or integrity,” it added.

Fox News released a statement on the unrelated Smartmatic lawsuit in April which said “We will be ready to defend this case surrounding extremely newsworthy events when it goes to trial, likely in 2025. As a report prepared by our financial expert shows, Smartmatic’s damages claims are implausible, disconnected from reality, and on its face intended to chill First Amendment freedoms.”