San Diego’s OAN Settles with Smartmatic in $2 Billion Suit Over 2020 Election Lies

Smartmatic has settled a lawsuit accusing San Diego-based One America News of defamation by falsely claiming that the voting technology company rigged the 2020 presidential election to help Joe Biden beat Donald Trump.

It’s the third settlement involving the right-wing network whose reach has dwindled in recent years. A lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems against OAN is still pending.

Terms of the latest settlement are confidential, Smartmatic’s lawyer Erik Connolly said, but the company voluntarily dismissed its lawsuit filed in 2021 in Washington, D.C.

Smartmatic had estimated that OAN’s false claims wiped out much of its business value, reducing it to less than $1 billion from more than $3 billion.

Lawyers for OAN did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The lawsuit was one of several accusing right-wing or conservative-leaning media of spreading lies about the election to drum up viewership, and boost advertising revenue.

Smartmatic still has lawsuits pending against Fox News and Newsmax over their election coverage. It is seeking $2.7 billion in the Fox lawsuit.

Last April, the voting technology company Dominion Voting Systems reached a $787.5 million settlement with Fox, as opening statements at a trial were about to begin.

OAN positioned itself to the right of Fox and Newsmax, sometimes airing conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, the Jan. 6, 2021 attack at the U.S. Capitol, and vaccine safety.

It suffered financial blows in 2022 when Verizon and AT&T’s DirecTV stopped carrying its programming.

Smartmatic, based in Boca Raton, Florida, accused OAN of causing irreparable harm by “spreading disinformation” about the election and its technology.

It said OAN eroded trust in the democratic process and abandoned a pledge by Charles Herring, president of its owner Herring Networks, to provide “reliable, credible, fact-based news with substance.”

In court papers, OAN said awarding Smartmatic more than $2 billion would silence “one more, albeit conservative, voice” from what the U.S. Supreme Court has called the “marketplace of ideas” protected by the First Amendment.

In May 2022, OAN settled a defamation suit brought by two Fulton County election workers, and posted numerous corrections.

“Georgia officials have concluded that there was no widespread voter fraud by election workers who counted ballots at the State Farm Arena in November 2020,” an OAN announcer said on air.

Similar concessions of fact were posted on OAN’s Twitter and Facebook accounts.

But in settling another defamation suit last September, OAN went radio silent. A search of its website didn’t show the name of the plaintiff, Eric Coomer.

The Smartmatic settlement also isn’t mentioned on the OAN website.

Coomer, OAN parent Herring Networks and chief White House correspondent Chanel Rion jointly agreed to dismiss the case brought by Coomer, a former Dominion Voting Systems executive.

Coomer and the defendants “have fully and finally settled the disputes among them concerning Plaintiff’s claims against Herring Networks … and Chanel Rion only,” the filing said.

The case is Smartmatic USA Corp et al v Herring Networks Inc, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia, No. 21-02900.

Reuters contributed to this report.