Dominion Voting Systems settles defamation lawsuit with Newsmax over 2020 election claims
Voting machine company Dominion Voting Systems has settled its defamation lawsuit against conservative media outlet Newsmax for $67 million, according to an SEC filing from the outlet.
The settlement, which came on Friday, marks the latest settlement paid to a voting machine company by conservative news outlets over falsehoods they pushed alleging fraud in the 2020 election, in which former President Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump.
The settlement is set to be paid out in three installments, per the filing, with $27 million to be paid on Aug. 15, $20 million to be paid on or before Jan. 15, 2026, and $20 million to be paid or before Jan. 15, 2027.
The case was set to go to trial this fall in Delaware.
Dominion sued Newsmax for $1.6 billion in 2021, saying Newsmax "manufactured, endorsed, repeated, and broadcast a series of verifiably false yet devastating lies about Dominion."
Newsmax defended its coverage, saying they were reporting on newsworthy allegations made by public figures.
Dominion previously settled its landmark defamation case against Fox News for $787 million. Newsmax previously settled with another voting machine company, Smartmatic, for $40 million.
In a statement, a Dominion spokesperson said, "We are pleased to have settled this matter."
In a post on its website, Newsmax continued to defend its coverage of the 2020 election, saying, "we stand by our coverage as fair, balanced, and conducted within professional standards of journalism."
The statement went on to criticize the judge overseeing the case. The company said it believed, without providing evidence, that Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis "would not provide a fair trial," which they said was a factor in its decision to settle.
Newsmax said that Judge Davis, who also presided over Dominion's case against Fox, allowed "excessive discovery" and "procedural irregularities."
Judge Davis did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
In 2022, Judge Davis denied Newsmax's effort to dismiss the case and allowed it to go forward, finding the complaint "supports the reasonable inference that Newsmax either knew its statements about Dominion's role in the election fraud were false or had a high degree of awareness that they were false."
