Smartmatic, one of the voting-machine companies that has become the subject of conspiracy theories about fraud in the presidential election, is demanding retractions from three conservative TV networks and threatening to file defamation lawsuits. 


What You Need To Know

  • Smartmatic is demanding retractions from news outlets Fox News, Newsmax, and One America News Network and threatening to file defamation lawsuits 

  • The voting-machine company has been the subject of conspiracy theories about fraud in the presidential election

  • “They have no evidence to support their attacks on Smartmatic because there is no evidence,” Smartmatic CEO Antonio Mugica said

  • Newsmax said the network itself has never made any claim of impropriety about Smartmatic, but that it aired interviews with political figures who have raised questions about the company

In a statement released Monday, the company said it was issuing legal notices and retraction demand letters to Fox News, Newsmax and One America News Network for “publishing false and defamatory statements.” Smartmatic accuses the networks of participating in a “disinformation campaign” to damage the company and discredit Joe Biden’s win over Donald Trump.

The company says it listed dozens of factually inaccurate statements in the letters that the news organizations “could have easily discovered the falsity of the statements and implications made about Smartmatic by investigating their statements before publishing them to millions of viewers and readers.”

“They have no evidence to support their attacks on Smartmatic because there is no evidence,” CEO Antonio Mugica said in the news release. “This campaign was designed to defame Smartmatic and undermine legitimately conducted elections. Our efforts are more than just about Smartmatic or any other company. This campaign is an attack on election systems and election workers in an effort to depress confidence in future elections and potentially counter the will of the voters, not just here, but in democracies around the world.”

Newsmax claimed in a statement Monday that the network “itself has never made a claim of impropriety about Smartmatic, its ownership or software.”

“Individuals, including plaintiff’s attorneys, Congressmen and others, have appeared on Newsmax raising questions about the company and its voting software, citing legal documents or previously published reports about Smartmatic,” the company said. “As any major media outlet, we provide a forum for public concerns and discussion. In the past we have welcomed Smartmatic and its representatives to counter such claims they believe to be inaccurate and will continue to do so.”

Fox News and OAN have not responded to requests for comment from Spectrum News.

Trump and his allies have pushed baseless allegations about election fraud involving Smartmatic, as well as one of its competitors, Dominion Voting Systems. 

Fact-checkers have debunked those allegations, and Smartmatic has pushed back on each claim on its website

Likewise, Dominion Voting Systems has devoted a page on its website to disputing election fraud claims. It has noted that its machines produce paper records, making it impossible for an audit not to detect misrepresentations in voting totals.

(Dominion has not responded to Spectrum News’ inquiry about whether it might be considering similar action.) 

The Trump campaign has filed dozens of lawsuits in battleground states but has repeatedly lost in court and failed to present any evidence of fraud that might overturn Biden’s victory.

On Nov. 12, the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and its partners contradicted Trump’s clains of fraud by saying, “The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history” and, “There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised.”

Trump fired Christopher Krebs, CISA’s director, six days later, saying the statement “was highly inaccurate, in that there were massive improprieties and fraud.” Krebs filed a lawsuit last week against the Trump campaign, Newsmax, and attorney Joseph diGenova following the lawyer's appearance on the network, where he called for Krebs to be killed.

The Electoral College is voting Monday to make Biden’s win official, although Trump has not conceded and his campaign is pressing on with more legal challenges.