Newsmax is reacting to its agreement to pay Dominion Voting Systems $67 million to settle the voting software firm’s defamation lawsuit over the MAGA network’s airing of 2020 election lies by calling for businesses to ditch the state where the complaint was filed.
“Newsmax likely could not have been sued in Delaware had it not been incorporated there at the time Dominion Voting Systems filed its lawsuit,” the network said in an online statement on Monday.
“Newsmax encourages every business incorporated in Delaware to reconsider and exit the state, as it did so to Florida,” the right-wing channel added. “Businesses should re-domicile in jurisdictions that still believe in the rule of law and remain committed to protecting constitutional freedoms for all Americans.”
Earlier this spring, Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric M. Davis ruled that there was “clear and convincing evidence” that Newsmax had made false and defamatory claims about Dominion, and the $1.6 billion lawsuit would go to trial.
Davis said it would be up to a jury to decide if Newsmax acted with “actual malice” and if the network should be required to pay damages to Dominion. The trial, which was scheduled to begin on April 28, would soon be postponed.
In a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission made public on Monday, it was revealed that Newsmax had agreed to pay Dominion $67 million over the next two years to settle the complaint, with $27 million to be paid this month. The payoff to Dominion comes on the heels of Newsmax settling with Smartmatic for $40 million to make a similar lawsuit over 2020 election conspiracies go away.
“We are pleased to have settled this matter,” a Dominion spokesperson said on Monday, declining to offer any additional comment.
While the voting technology company – which was at the center of baseless allegations that it “rigged” the 2020 election against Donald Trump – was brief with its comments on the settlement, Newsmax and its CEO Chris Ruddy took the opportunity to portray themselves as victims of an unfair judicial system.
“From the very beginning, Judge Davis ruled in ways that strongly favored the plaintiffs and limited Newsmax's ability to defend itself,” the network said in its statement.
“The Delaware court under Judge Davis effectively enforced a confiscation of our property because our reporting was not always sympathetic to Joe Biden,” Ruddy added. “The actions taken against Newsmax, and earlier against Fox News, represent a direct attack on free speech and a free press.”
Ruddy, of course, was referencing the record $787.5 million settlement that Fox News paid Dominion in 2023 to settle a similar defamation lawsuit over Fox’s broadcasting of falsehoods about the election being “stolen” from Trump. Judge Davis also presided over that case.
In its complaint, Dominion accused Fox News of promoting election denialism to boost sagging ratings following Joe Biden’s victory, which saw disgruntled MAGA viewers ditch the conservative cable giant for channels like Newsmax after Fox News’ early but accurate Arizona projection on election night.
“The judiciary's willingness to punish news organizations for reporting on matters of urgent national debate undermines the role of the press in a free society,” Newsmax continued in its Monday statement.
During multiple on-air segments on Monday, the network’s anchors reiterated Newsmax’s statement about the settlement and that the channel not only stood by its reporting on the 2020 election, but that it also wanted other companies to follow its lead and no longer incorporate in Delaware.
“Newsmax stated that the Delaware court’s actions were a direct attack on free speech and free press, and has urged companies domiciled to leave Delaware as many other businesses led by Elon Musk and others have already done,” host Katrina Szish declared during the broadcast of American Agenda.
“Newsmax believes, however, that the $67 million settlement with Dominion will not interrupt the company’s growth and plans for the future,” she concluded while inviting viewers to “take a look” at “additional information” about the company at the network’s “Invest in Newsmax” website.
Earlier this year, the right-wing media outlet went public and quickly became a meme stock, briefly seeing its valuation dwarf that of Fox Corp. and other blue-chip companies before falling back to earth.
Meanwhile, nearly five years after the 2020 election set off a wave of litigation over false claims of widespread voting fraud, most of the lawsuits brought by Dominion and others have reached their conclusion. Still, some cases are making their way through the court.
Fox News, for instance, is facing a $2.7 billion lawsuit from Smartmatic, though the network has won a number of favorable motions in court and has indicated that it is willing to defend itself in trial.
Comments