Newsmax will pay $67 million to settle a lawsuit accusing it of defaming the voting equipment company Dominion Voting Systems over its role in the 2020 election.
The conservative network Newsmax will pay $67 million to settle a lawsuit accusing it of defaming a voting equipment company by spreading lies about President Trump’s 2020 election loss, according to documents filed Monday. The suit against Newsmax was brought by Dominion Voting Systems, which alleged the network published false and defamatory statements claiming the company rigged the election. A Delaware judge ruled partially in favor of Dominion in a decision earlier this year, additional court filings show.
The settlement comes after Fox News Channel paid $787.5 million to settle a similar lawsuit in 2023 and Newsmax paid what court papers describe as $40 million to settle a libel lawsuit from a different voting machine manufacturer, Smartmatic, which also was a target of pro-Trump conspiracy theories on the network.
Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis had ruled earlier that Newsmax did indeed defame Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems by airing false information about the company and its equipment. But Davis left it to a jury to eventually decide whether that was done with malice, and, if so, how much Dominion deserved from Newsmax in damages. Newsmax and Dominion reached a settlement before the trial could take place.
In a statement to CBS News on Monday, a Dominion spokesperson said the company was «pleased to have settled this matter.»
The settlement originally came to light in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing by Newsmax, which was dated Friday, Aug. 15, the day that a deal was reached, according to the document. Newsmax has agreed to pay the settlement in three installments of $27 million, $20 million and $20 million, with the final installment to be paid in January 2027, the filing said.
Newsmax continues to deny allegations that suggest its coverage of Dominion in the context of the 2020 election was defamatory.
«Newsmax believed it was critically important for the American people to hear both sides of the election disputes that arose in 2020», the company said in a statement published on its website.
