Judge sets trial date for Dominion’s $1.6 billion lawsuit against Newsmax

The $1.6 billion defamation case filed by Dominion Voting Systems against Newsmax following the 2020 presidential election should go to trial in late September 2024, a judge ruled, according to a CNN report published Monday.

The voting technology company sued the right-wing network in August 2021, alleging that Newsmax deliberately made knowingly false statements regarding the 2020 presidential race and Dominion’s voting machines to increase its audiences and profits. The same day, Dominion filed two other defamation lawsuits – against One America News Network and former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne.

Newsmax unsuccessfully tried to get the lawsuit dismissed last year, but the network continued to deny wrongdoing and expressed confidence that it “will ultimately prevail given the strong protections of the First Amendment intended to guarantee freedom of expression and freedom of the press.

In the lawsuit, Dominion said Newsmax spread misinformation because the falsehoods, including the baseless claim that Dominion was created in Venezuela by Hugo Chavez to interfere with elections, “attracted public scrutiny.” “Trump’s approval, attention and admiration.”

“In short, this lawsuit is not about Newsmax covering President Trump; this is about Newsmax courting President Trump, feeding its audience a torrent of lies that support the false narrative that President Trump won the election,” the complaint states.

The case is being overseen by Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis, who also presided over Dominion’s lawsuit against Fox News.

Dominion filed a lawsuit against Fox News over the network’s broadcast of 2020 election lies about the company, but the two sides reached a last-minute settlement for $787.5 million in April, avoiding a public trial that could have been embarrassing for the conservative network.

Before the settlement, Davis said it was “CRYSTAL clear that none of the statements about Dominion regarding the 2020 election were true” but left the jury to decide whether they met the legal definition of diffamation.

Newsmax also faces a lawsuit from Smartmatic USA, another voting machine company, over its coverage of the 2020 election.