A Fox News correspondent holds a Fox News microphone in a September 25, 2019 file photo (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Fox News sued Los Angeles County this week in an effort to pry away documents related to the municipality’s relationship with voting software and hardware company Smartmatic Corp.
Attorneys filed the public records lawsuit days after a New York-based court of appeals declined to dismiss Smartmatic’s $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit over false “conspiracy theories” about rigging the 2020 election which were allegedly reported by the network.
Fox News’ lawsuit alleges there is evidence of corruption between LA County and Smartmatic employees that occurred at some point during the bidding process for the provision of voting technology.
“Fox News brings this action to obtain public records that relate to the relationship between L.A. County and election systems company Smartmatic — two entities with recent and extensive allegations of corruption in government contracts,” the lawsuit reads. “Fox News has already uncovered evidence showing personal benefits, including some undisclosed, flowing from Smartmatic to one County official.”
This alleged evidence, the network claims, will be useful in defending against the defamation lawsuit. But, Fox News alleges, LA County has been less than forthcoming in providing the documents at issue in response to multiple open records requests.
“While the County has produced some records, it has refused to produce documents that are responsive to several categories of requests,” the lawsuit continues. “Even where the County has agreed to produce records, its production is missing many responsive documents. Several of these deficiencies concern documents relating to the head of a County agency who received personal benefits from Smartmatic. The County agency this individual oversaw was responsible for responding to some of Fox News’s CPRA requests.”
Specifically, the network’s lawsuit notes that “three current and former Smartmatic executives — including Smartmatic’s cofounder and president, Roger Piñate, Jr.” are charged in a federal indictment related to “an alleged bribery and money laundering scheme involving contracts awarded to administer the 2016 Philippine elections.”
Fox News says Smartmatic’s own website once trumpeted Piñate’s role in “Smartmatic’s winning the contracts both in the Philippines and with L.A. County.” Those favorable references to Piñate’s work, however, have been “removed since his indictment,” the lawsuit says.
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“In light of the serious allegations of corruption with Smartmatic elsewhere, transparency surrounding the County’s awarding of Smartmatic’s contract is paramount,” the Fox News lawsuit reads.
To that end, the network says, they requested records “showing the interactions between Smartmatic employees and County elections officials in the years surrounding the 2020 election” as well as an out-sourced law firm report “covering the independent review of significant contracts awarded by the County between 2008 and 2020.”
The network also notes their efforts in trying to obtain a bevy of records related to Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder and County Clerk Dean Logan. The lawsuit says Logan and his office were “intimately involved in awarding the contract to Smartmatic.”
“Fox News has a particular interest in evidence of potential illicit behavior by Smartmatic,” the mammoth 471-page filing obtained by Law&Crime, inclusive of exhibits, continues.
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The relationship between Smartmatic and LA County is a sticking point for the network due to the former’s defamation lawsuit.
To hear Fox News tell it, the order of events here is key.
“Smartmatic’s damages claim rests on the assertion that Smartmatic’s work with L.A. County would provide a springboard for Smartmatic to expand to the rest of the United States,” the public records lawsuit goes on. “Smartmatic further alleges that Fox News’s coverage of the 2020 U.S. presidential election harmed the company, and that Smartmatic has lost business because of the coverage.14 It is therefore imperative to Fox News to learn whether Smartmatic won and maintained its business with the County legitimately. The Smartmatic Litigation itself has received extensive public coverage, and evidence of corruption that Fox News unearths as part of that litigation will serve both its own defense and the public’s interest in understanding how election contracts were awarded in L.A. County.”
The network complains LA County “refused Fox News access to the requested records.” That is, the lawsuit says, some records were provided with “gaping omissions” while several records — including some related to Logan and the law firm report — were denied entirely.
In their defamation lawsuit, Smartmatic alleges Fox News aired false claims and “election conspiracy theories” about its voting machines during its 2020 post-election coverage. Fox Corp. executives — including Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan Murdoch — are accused of purposely allowing the network to spread lies about the company, according to one court filing by Smartmatic.
The Fox News lawsuit marshals an array of allegations against the L.A. County employee and Smartmatic’s employees.
From the filing at length:
[D]uring the manufacture of the ballot marking devices for L.A. County, Smartmatic paid for Logan to take a five-day trip to Taiwan. Smartmatic paid all expenses for Logan’s business class flight, hotel stay, and meals, which Logan testified were “nice” meals. While in Taiwan, Logan observed the manufacturing of the L.A. County voting devices. In addition to observing the voting device manufacturing process, Logan’s trip included sightseeing and personal time. Despite their responsiveness to Fox News’s requests, the County has produced no calendar entries or other documents related to Logan’s trip to Taiwan.
As another example, in 2022, Smartmatic employee Daniel Murphy invited Logan to join him for dinner at the Magic Castle in Los Angeles. The Magic Castle is a members-only magic club offering dinner and magic shows. Murphy paid for Logan’s outing to the Magic Castle. Despite their responsiveness to Fox News’s requests, the County has produced no calendar entries or other documents related to Logan’s Magic Castle outing.
“The citizens of L.A. County deserve government officials that have integrity that is beyond reproach,” the lawsuit reads. “That a County official received benefits from Smartmatic is a matter of public concern. Whether Smartmatic was providing bribes, gratuities, or other financial rewards to other County officials is also a matter of public concern. Indeed, corruption has run rampant in California in recent years.”
Chris Perez contributed to this report.
