The settlement comes a year after Fox News paid $787.5 million to resolve a similar case with Dominion.
The conservative media network Newsmax has agreed to pay $67 million to settle a defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems, which accused the network of airing false claims about the company’s role in President Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss. The settlement was disclosed Monday in documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. According to the filing, the deal was reached Friday.
The agreement marks the latest high-profile defamation settlement tied to Trump’s baseless allegations of election fraud. In 2023, Fox News Channel paid $787.5 million to Dominion to avoid trial. Newsmax itself had previously paid what court papers described as $40 million to Smartmatic, another voting machine company that was falsely accused of helping to rig the election.
Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis, who oversaw both the Fox and Newsmax cases, had already ruled that Newsmax defamed Dominion by broadcasting falsehoods about the Denver-based company and its voting equipment. However, Davis left open the question of whether the network acted with “actual malice” and how much Dominion should be awarded. The settlement ended the case before a jury could decide damages. A spokesperson for Dominion said the company was “pleased” with the outcome.
