Smartmatic Election Fraud Lawsuits v Fox News + One America News + Newsmax + Giuliani Bartiromo Dobbs Pirro Squidney

[Reddog]

With Dominion’s settlement, I’m interested on where this is headed. Also the pillow guy lawsuit.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

With Dominion’s settlement, I’m interested on where this is headed. Also the pillow guy lawsuit.

[Reality Check]

With Dominion’s settlement, I’m interested on where this is headed. Also the pillow guy lawsuit.

I think Smartmatic would have to be delighted. They know Faux News is willing to open the purse and dig very deep now. Expect lots of bluster from Fox but Dominion forced them to show their hand and that is a huge tactical advantage for Smartmatic.

[noblepa]

Can Smartmatic use the depositions and other revelations from the Dominion case in their own lawsuit, or must they take similar deposition, trying to elicit the same admissions of lying?

[realist]

Can Smartmatic use the depositions and other revelations from the Dominion case in their own lawsuit, or must they take similar deposition, trying to elicit the same admissions of lying?

I suspect Dominion would be willing to share their booty.

In my experience over the years I found plaintiff counsel willing to share with each other.

Most times defendants not as much. No idea why.

[Dr. Ken]

[RTH10260]

Smartmatic subpoenas Donald Trump's former campaign in lawsuit against Fox News over 2020 election conspiracy theories

JACOB SHAMSIAN,MADISON HALL
MAY 10, 2023, 23:57 IST

• Smartmatic subpoenaed Donald Trump's 2020 campaign, which has since become his MAGA PAC.
  The subpoenas were issued for Smartmatic's defamation lawsuits against Fox News and Newsmax.

Smartmatic subpoenaed ex-President Donald Trump's former campaign operation this week as part of its defamation lawsuits over election conspiracy theories.

The election technology company — which was falsely accused of manipulating the 2020 presidential election results by Trump's lawyers — issued the subpoenas as part of its defamation lawsuits against Fox News and Newsmax.

The subpoenas were issued on April 12 and made public in court filings Tuesday. They seek communications and files from Donald J. Trump for President, Inc., Trump's campaign vehicle for the 2016 and 2020 elections. The organization has since been transformed into Trump's PAC for his 2024 presidential campaign, called the Make America Great Again PAC, according to Federal Election Commission filings reviewed by Insider.

In the subpoenas, Smartmatic asks for all communications regarding Smartmatic or Dominion — a rival election technology company also caught up in conspiracy theories — in connection with Fox News and Newsmax around the time of the 2020 election. They also ask for communication regarding appearances by Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani, two attorneys who advanced the conspiracy theories on behalf of the Trump campaign.

Smartmatic and Dominion have each filed a series of defamation lawsuits against Fox News, Newsmax, the right-wing network One America News, Powell, Giuliani, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, and other figures who pushed falsehoods about the 2020 election.




https://www.businessinsider.in/politics ... 141648.cms

[Grumpy Git]

A six tweet update on Smartmatic v Fox

[Luke]

Nice.

Newsmax Staffers Hit With Subpoenas in 2020 Election Defamation Suit
Diana Falzone Sun, June 25, 2023 at 8:30 AM EDT

Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against Fox News laid bare how the network communicated behind the scenes about broadcasting 2020 election misinformation, ultimately leading the network to fork over a massive settlement. Newsmax could be next, as voting technology company Smartmatic has subpoenaed several of the right-wing cable network’s current and former employees for work and personal correspondence. Several Newsmax insiders, who spoke with Rolling Stone under a condition of anonymity due to a fear of reprisal, said that roughly three weeks ago they were told to hand over “mirror images of their personal cell phone, personal email, and iCloud” as Smartmatic’s lawsuit against the network moves forward.

Smartmaric’s attorney J. Erik Connolly, Managing Chair of the Litigation Practice Group, at Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff, LLC tells Rolling Stone: “Smartmatic intends to pursue discovery from the current and former Newsmax employees who participated in the egregious disinformation campaign against the company. Some of the discovery has come, and will come, from the company. Smartmatic is pursuing these individuals to get the rest. Our complaint does not numerically specify the amount of damages we have suffered.” Smartmatic claims in their lawsuit that Newsmax knowingly pushed falsehoods about the company following the 2020 presidential election. “Newsmax published and/or republished false statements and implications during news broadcasts, in online reports, and on social media that ‘Smartmatic participated in a criminal conspiracy’ to fix, rig, and steal the Election,” the defamation suit alleges. Newsmax, which did not return Rolling Stone’s request for comment, initially pushed back on the Smartmatic defamation suit with a countersuit claiming it was an intimidation tactic. However, in February 2023 Smartmatic’s case was permitted to proceed, and Newsmax staffers are now being asked to hand over pertinent material.
***
The Newsmax staffers who have been slapped with subpoenas for their texts and emails are not happy, telling Rolling Stone that the company has threatened to fire them if they don’t comply with the subpoenas. “Originally, when Newsmax asked us to do this, they said it wasn’t compulsory, but now due to the subpoena if we don’t comply they have threatened our jobs,” one employee laments. “They basically said that if we don’t hand it over it prevents them from sufficiently being able to defend themselves in court, which in turn could be seen as hurting the company which is grounds for potential termination.” “This is a civil lawsuit between two corporations,” the employee added. “At no point should our personal data come into play. This goes beyond a violation of privacy. It is an invasion.” It’s a common sentiment among the network’s staff. “Many of us don’t believe it’s right to give our employer access to all of our personal privacy when we had nothing to do with the decision making process,” says another staffer. “It’s a major violation of privacy.” But one network insider, who confirmed the Smartmatic subpoenas were given to several Newsmax staffers, rebuffed the frustrations of some employees. “It’s no secret Smartmatic would issue subpoenas for all of those communications,” they said. “A court order is a court order, and Newsmax would be in no position to tell employees ‘no, you don’t have to comply.’ They must comply if they’ve been subpoenaed. Newsmax would have no choice but to fire them if they don’t comply with a court order.”

Attorney Jasmine Rand, a counsel for the Baez Law Firm in Florida who manages the firm’s civil division and practices employment discrimination law, agrees that Newsmax employees do not have much of a choice but to turn over the requested items subpoenaed by Smartmatic. “If Newsmax is compelling employees to produce mirror images of their personal emails and cell phones in response to a subpoena or court order, and threatening to fire them unless they comply, unfortunately employees have little recourse but to challenge the underlying subpoena.” Smartmatic’s lawsuit is one of several defamation suits filed against purveyors of the false idea that the 2020 election was rigged against Trump. The media entities and individuals allied with Trump needed to blame someone for what they alleged was a plot to subvert the democratic process, and voting machine companies were a common culprit. Smartmatic was fingered by election deniers even though the company only provided services in Los Angeles County, and the company has Fox News and OANN in addition to Newsmax.

Dominion provided services in contested states, and has sued Fox News, Newsmax, and OANN, former Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, and conspiracy theorizing pillow salesman Mike Lindell. The company’s settlement with Fox News was a landmark victory in the effort to hold misinformation peddlers accountable, exposing the extent to which the network knew it was lying to its millions of viewers. Newsmax staffers are understandably nervous that their texts, emails, and other correspondence may, too, become part of the public record. There may not be much they can do about it.

https://news.yahoo.com/newsmax-staffers ... 00533.html

[RTH10260]

Question for the lawyers:
Is the request to hand over a full mirror copy of a private phone really permitted? Ought the request not at least be limited to communications with certain individuals? Should not a third party make the filtering?

[W. Kevin Vicklund]

I had the same concern. The subpoena, as described (important caveat whenever dealing with RWNJ), seems overly broad.

[RTH10260]

Rudy Giuliani claims ‘dog ate my homework’ in Smartmatic case, lawyers say

Martin Pengelly
1h ago 17.34 BST

A voting machine company behind a $2.7bn defamation lawsuit over lies about the 2020 election said Rudy Giuliani was using excuses like “the dog ate my homework” to avoid the discovery process.

Lawyers for Smartmartic wrote:

The dog ate my homework.’ ‘I have to wash my hair.’ ‘I can’t go out, I’m sick.’ Since the dawn of time, people have made up excuses to avoid doing things they do not want to do.

This is exactly what Giuliani has done here.

The former New York mayor turned personal attorney to Donald Trump, 79, is named alongside Fox News in the lawsuit, which follows a defamation suit Fox News settled for $787.5m with Dominion Voting Systems.

In the Smartmatic case, in Monday court filings first reported by CNN, lawyers expressed frustration over trying to get Giuliani to turn over relevant records.

They said:

For months, Giuliani has made up excuses to get out of his discovery obligations … To date, Giuliani has not produced a single non-public document responsive to the discovery requests Smartmatic issued 14 months ago.

The company asked a New York judge to force Giuliani to turn over materials.



in live update https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/liv ... ve-updates

[p0rtia]

Smartmatic should have a chat with Shay/Ruby's lawyers.

[Luke]

HEY wait a minute -- Foggy often says he'd love to do stuff but ‘I have to wash my hair’. You mean it's been an excuse this whole time?

[jemcanada2]

HEY wait a minute -- Foggy often says he'd love to do stuff but ‘I have to wash my hair’. You mean it's been an excuse this whole time?

[Foggy]

!	Message from: Foggy
	Pay no attention to the two posts above this one.

[MN-Skeptic]

Judge shuts down Fox bid to subpoena George Soros and Smartmatic

A New York judge on Monday shut down an attempt by Fox News to subpoena George Soros, the Jewish billionaire and frequent target of far-right conspiracy theories, and search for additional links between him and Smartmatic, a voting technology company at the center of false election claims during the 2020 election.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice David B. Cohen rejected Fox Corp. and Fox News’ attempts to subpoena George Soros, his son Alex Soros, and their philanthropic organization Open Society Foundation (OSF) for documents related to the election defamation case. Soros, who has donated heavily to progressive causes, has been the frequent target of right-wing attacks, often playing into antisemitic tropes.

Fox argued that Alex and George Soros, as well as OSF, possess material necessary to the network’s defense in the defamation trial. The documentation, Fox argued, would establish a connection between George Soros and Smartmatic. But Fox’s documentation was irrelevant, the judge said, adding that the matter was peripheral.

“I base that on the finding that the crux of Smartmatic’s claims is that Fox has asserted they were part of rigging [the election], not that Smartmatic was affiliated with George Soros, Alex Soros, or the OSF,” Cohen said. “That’s a peripheral matter — at best, it’s a possible rationale for defamation.”

A Fox News spokesperson attempted to portray the hearing as a victory, telling CNN, “We are pleased that counsel for Soros and Smartmatic conceded during the hearing today that there are connections between Smartmatic and Soros, as confirmed by documents from Smartmatic and the public record.” Smartmatic did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment.

[MN-Skeptic]

Jeremy Barr
@jeremymbarr

Scoop: Smartmatic and One America News Network have agreed to settle their lawsuit

Smartmatic sued in November 2021 over claims made during the network's coverage of the 2020 election

Smartmatic had charged that "OANN’s choices have damaged Smartmatic’s reputation and brand by casting it as a corrupt company whose technology and software was used to steal election the 2020 U.S. election."

Smartmatic's cases against Fox News and Newsmax are still ongoing

[p0rtia]

[noblepa]

How much?

OAN doesn't have nearly as deep pockets as Fox, but it could still be a lot.

[realist]

How much?

OAN doesn't have nearly as deep pockets as Fox, but it could still be a lot.

Most likely (though I could be wrong) it's confidential, so we may never know.

[bob]

How much?

So we'll likely never know.

And, obviously, Smartmatic wasn't required to accept this settlement. But risks, costs, etc., likely made it grumbably agree to confidentiality as a term.