One America News reaches settlement with Smartmatic over 2020 election lies
San Diego, California - Far-right wing outlet One America News (OAN) has officially settled their defamation lawsuit from Smartmatic concerning lies the network told about the 2020 presidential elections.
An attorney for OAN recently told CNN that "The case has been resolved pursuant to a confidential agreement" but declined to give any more details.
Smartmatic, a voting technology company, filed the defamation lawsuit against the network back in 2021, accusing OAN of intentionally spreading lies that the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump, who lost to Joe Biden by more than seven million votes.
The company said it was "victimized" by OAN in its attempts to "increase viewership and revenue."
The suit pointed to dozens of false claims made by hosts and guests, including unfounded allegations that Smartmatic's software was being used "to switch votes from President Trump to Joe Biden", claims the company had ties to Venezuela, and accusations that they engaged in digital "ballot-stuffing" to keep Trump from winning.
The network's personalities also repeatedly claimed that the software was used in voting machines "in 30 states", when in reality it was only used in one county in the state of California.
Far-right media are reaping what they sowed with their election denialism
Smartmatic's lawsuit against OAN is just one of many filed by voting companies against right-wing media outlets and pro-Trump officials that pushed election denialism claims. The company still has pending suits against Fox News, Newsmax, and others.
Despite there being no evidence of election fraud or any kind of cheating, Trump and his allies continue to push their claims.
Most recently, Trump joined House Speaker Mike Johnson for a news conference, where they discussed "election integrity" and the potential for fraud in the upcoming general election in November.
The OAN settlement comes a year after Fox News ended a similar suit from Dominion Voting Systems, which sought $1.6 billion in damages. The network was forced to pay $787.5 million to settle, the largest publicly known defamation settlement in US history.
OAN is still entrenched in a separate defamation lawsuit about their lies brought forth by Dominion.
Cover photo: IMAGO / Zoonar