A New York state judge on Tuesday said Smartmatic can pursue its $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit claiming that Fox News Network, Rudolph Giuliani and others falsely accused the electronic voting systems maker of helping rig the 2020 U.S. presidential election to favor Democrat Joe Biden. (Reuters)
Judge David Cohen also declined to dismiss claims against host Maria Bartiromo and former host Lou Dobbs, while tossing out claims against Jeanine Pirro and a guest on Fox News in the aftermath of the 2020 election, attorney Sidney Powell. Some of the claims against Giuliani also were thrown out. (Deadline)
Fox News is also battling a related $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems, which has accused the channel of advancing lies that devastated its reputation and business. A Delaware judge rejected an attempt by Fox News to dismiss Dominion’s lawsuit in December. (NYT)