Newsmax and Smartmatic Settle Defamation Case Over 2020 Election

Jury selection in the case began on Thursday morning, and the trial had been expected to take up to four weeks.

Smartmatic on Thursday settled its defamation lawsuit against Newsmax, the right-wing cable news channel that had spread false claims of election fraud, the companies said.

The details of the settlement, reached as the jury was being selected before the trial, were not immediately disclosed.

Smartmatic, an election technology company, had accused Newsmax of trying to entice viewers from its rival, Fox News, by airing false reports that Smartmatic helped swing the 2020 election for Joseph R. Biden Jr. The lawsuit was filed in Delaware Superior Court in 2021.

Jury selection in the case began on Thursday morning in Wilmington, Del., and the trial had been expected to take up to four weeks.

“Newsmax is pleased to announce it has resolved the litigation brought by Smartmatic through a confidential settlement,” Newsmax said in its statement.

A Smartmatic spokesman said in a statement: “Lying to the American people has consequences. Smartmatic will not stop until the perpetrators are held accountable.”

The 12th-hour settlement avoids the spectacle of a closely watched trial. It is not unusual for parties in defamation cases to reach a deal before a trial. In a similar case last year, Fox News settled a lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million just minutes before opening statements were to begin.

The Smartmatic-Newsmax case was the latest in a series of legal challenges that sprang out of misinformation surrounding the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Smartmatic, which was little known before 2020, provided voting services in just one county in California during that election. But it, along with Dominion, was pulled into a cascade of conspiracy theories about election fraud promoted by supporters of President Donald J. Trump on cable networks and elsewhere as they tried to cast doubt over the election results.

In its lawsuit, Smartmatic said Newsmax had knowingly allowed false claims about the company’s role in the election to be broadcast in multiple reports in November and December 2020.

Newsmax said that it was merely covering allegations made by Mr. Trump and his allies over the election results and that the lawsuit “threatens freedom of speech and freedom of press.”

The same judge in the Fox-Dominion case, Eric Davis, oversaw the Smartmatic-Newsmax case. Opening statements were set to begin on Monday, with witness appearances expected by people like Christopher Ruddy, the chief executive of Newsmax, and Sean Spicer, Mr. Trump’s former White House press secretary, who hosted a talk show on the channel.

In April, Smartmatic settled a similar defamation claim against One America News Network for an undisclosed amount. But there are more legal cases to come. A Smartmatic lawsuit against Fox Corp and Fox News is expected to go to trial in New York in 2025.

Dominion has pending cases against Newsmax and One America News Network, as well as against Mike Lindell, the MyPillow founder and 2020 election denier; Sidney Powell, a former lawyer for Mr. Trump; and the former New York City mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who advised Mr. Trump.

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