Judge Rejects Fox News’ Motion to Dismiss Smartmatic Lawsuit, Tosses Claims Against Judge Jeanine

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Fox New Media’s effort to dismiss a defamation lawsuit filed by electronic voting company Smartmatic was rejected by a New York judge on Tuesday.

Judge David Cohen did, however, toss out claims against Fox News host Judge Jeanine Pirro, but did not dismiss those against host Maria Bartiromo and former host Lou Dobbs.

Some other claims against pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell, who was a guest on Fox News, and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani were also dismissed by Cohen.

Smartmatic sued Fox News and the three hosts in New York State Supreme Court, seeking at least $2.7 billion in damages. The company claimed Giuliani and Powell “created a story about Smartmatic” regarding the 2020 presidential election and that “Fox joined the conspiracy to defame and disparage Smartmatic and its election technology and software.”

Cohen explained his ruling in a 61-page opinion:

Even assuming that Fox News did not intentionally allow this false narrative to be broadcasted, there is a substantial basis for plaintiffs’ claim that, at a minimum, Fox News turned a blind eye to a litany of outrageous claims about plaintiffs, unprecedented in the history of American elections, so inherently improbable that it evinced a reckless disregard for the truth.

Fox News Media responded with the following statement to Mediaite:

While we are gratified that Judge Cohen dismissed Smartmatic’s claims against Jeanine Pirro at this early stage, we still plan to appeal the ruling immediately. We will also continue to litigate these baseless claims by filing a counterclaim for fees and costs under New York’s anti-SLAPP statute to prevent the full-blown assault on the First Amendment which stands in stark contrast to the highest tradition of American journalism.

Smartmatic sued other outlets as well, including Newsmax and One America News Network. Smartmatic CEO Antonio Mugica said in a November 2021 statement that the company took legal action against Newsmax and OAN because the damage to the firm “from this parallel universe of lies and disinformation has reverberated across the United States and in dozens of countries around the world.”