The Fox Corporation and some of its most popular anchors are the on the receiving end of a $2.7 billion defamation suit filed by an election technology company targeted by baseless voter fraud conspiracy theories in the wake of the 2020 election, the New York Times reports.
Smartmatic filed the lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court on Thursday against the Fox Corporation, Fox News and anchors Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo, and Jeanine Pirro. The lawsuit also targets pro-Trump lawyers Sydney Powell and Rudy Giuiani, who both played a huge role in disseminating the voter fraud claims publicly.
In its complaint, Smartmatic says Giuliani and Powell “created a story about Smartmatic” and that “Fox joined the conspiracy to defame and disparage Smartmatic and its election technology and software.”
One interesting thing about Smartmatic's lawsuit is that it uses the surreal fact-check segments Fox aired debunking its own hosts against the company… pic.twitter.com/xZvdU4XExy
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) February 4, 2021
“The story turned neighbor against neighbor,” the complaint continues. “The story led a mob to attack the U.S. Capitol.”
Smartmatic is seeking damages of “no less than $2.7 billion” and is requesting a jury trial. The lawsuit comes after Dominion Voting Systems filed lawsuits against Giuliani and Powell over their fraudulent claims of mass election fraud they say was perpetuated by the company.
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