A working space of One America News Network is seen on the White House ground in Washington, DC, USA on November 17, 2020. Photo by Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Sipa USA(Sipa via AP Images)
Smartmatic, the election technology company which only participated in the 2020 election in Los Angeles County but was nonetheless accused by conspiracy theorists of stealing the contest from Donald Trump at the behest of Hugo Chávez’s ghost, suddenly agreed on Tuesday to dismiss its defamation case against One America News Network (OAN) pursuant to a reported “confidential settlement.”
The lawsuit that was filed in late 2021 had in recent months devolved into messy discovery disputes, wherein Smartmatic and its attorney J. Erik Connolly went so far as to lob allegations that OAN execs had potentially “engaged in criminal activities” by “appear[ing] to have violated state and federal laws regarding data privacy.” The plaintiff alleged that 2021 emails between “Kraken” lawyer Sidney Powell and OAN President Charles Herring indicated that the network had access to a spreadsheet with Smartmatic employees’ passwords, CNN reported.
Months passed. Then, on April 2, U.S. Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya set a discovery hearing to take place on the afternoon of April 23, the docket shows. The magistrate also set an April 12 deadline for a joint status report. Just two days later, Upadhyaya vacated the order without explanation.
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On Tuesday, a stipulation of dismissal revealed that the case is over — without providing any details of a settlement:
Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 41(a)(1)(A)(ii), Plaintiffs, Smartmatic USA Corp., Smartmatic International Holding B.V., and SGO Corporation Limited, and Defendant Herring Networks, Inc. d/b/a One America News Network, by and through undersigned counsel, hereby stipulate that this action and all claims asserted therein be dismissed with prejudice, with each party bearing its own attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses. The parties also withdraw and terminate all pending motions submitted in this action.
After the news of the dismissal broke, Connolly confirmed to the Washington Post that his client Smartmatic “has resolved its litigation against OANN through a confidential settlement.”
No information on the details of the Smartmatic/OAN settlement.
Smartmatic attorney Erik Connolly just says:
“Smartmatic has resolved its litigation against OANN through a confidential settlement.”— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) April 16, 2024
OAN attorney Chip Babcock, for his part, reportedly called it a “confidential agreement.”
When Smartmatic brought the lawsuit, it claimed OAN’s false claims played a material role played in destroying the business’ value to the tune of billions as the network positioned itself as a more conservative alternative to Fox News in the aftermath of the 2020 election.
“Prior to the 2020 U.S. election, based on its historical business and pipeline, Smartmatic’s business was valued in excess of $3.0 billion based on a modest multiplier,” the complaint said. “Now, following OANN’s publication of its defamatory statements, Smartmatic’s business is valued at less than $1 billion.”
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