Newsmax Will Pay $67 Million to Settle Dominion Defamation Lawsuit...

In April, Judge Eric M. Davis of the Delaware Superior Court ruled that Dominion had presented “clear and convincing evidence” that the statements from Newsmax were false and defamatory, allowing the case to proceed to a trial. The trial, where a jury would decide whether Newsmax had broadcast the claims despite knowing they were false and the extent of damages to Dominion, had been set for earlier this year but was postponed. Nearly five years after the 2020 election, a wave of litigation over the broadcasting of false claims is nearing a conclusion. In April 2023, Fox News agreed to pay Dominion $787.5 million to resolve a separate defamation lawsuit over the network’s extensive promotion of conspiracy theories that falsely linked Dominion to interference in the 2020 election. Newsmax settled a similar case brought by another voting technology company, Smartmatic, in September for $40 million. Some cases are still underway. Fox News faces a $2.7 billion lawsuit from Smartmatic, which is set to proceed to trial in a Manhattan state court unless the parties reach a settlement. Fox has said it is willing to defend itself at trial, and it has criticized Smartmatic’s damages claims as “intended to chill First Amendment freedoms.”