WASHINGTON (CN) — A federal judged expressed her frustration with both parties in a defamation suit between voting technology company Smartmatic and far-right One America News Network during a discovery hearing on Monday as the case plods toward a resolution.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya warned lawyers from each side that “sanctions are on the table” if disputes continue to arise from production of documents in the case.
Smartmatic had accused OAN of wrongfully producing a trove of over 1,500 duplicative documents that could be consolidated into a few hundred.
OAN disagreed that the documents were duplicative and took issue with Smartmatic's failure to clarify how it had reached $2 billion in damages and how that money would be allocated.
Upadhyaya forced the parties to resolve the dispute over the duplicative documents during a short break, but warned either side that she would not tolerate further delays in the case's proceedings.
The suit, filed in November 2021 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, is one of many such defamation cases brought against right-wing outlets like Fox News and OAN for spreading baseless conspiracy theories claiming Smartmatic and Dominion voting machines were behind Donald Trump’s 2020 defeat.
Smartmatic’s voting machines had only been used by Los Angeles County during the 2020 election and not any swing states, meaning the company’s technology would have had little to no impact on the election results. But the company became a target of conservatives because of its supposed ties to Venezuela — two Venezuelans founded the company in Florida and provided election technology to the country — which they claim prove a trend of electing dictators like Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.
The theory bears little weight, as Smartmatic’s only tie to the nation is through Sequoia Voting Systems, a company it had acquired in 2005 and sold in 2007, which was later acquired by Dominion.
Of particular issue for Upadhyaya was the lack of a full computation of damages to Smartmatic caused by such conspiracy theories and specifically caused by OAN.
The company had estimated damages could reach $2 billion in its initial complaint, but had failed to provide a full computation of damages, which plaintiffs would receive them and from which defendants.
“At this stage, plaintiffs should have some ideas as to the damages suffered,” Upadhyaya told Smartmatic attorney Caitlin Kovacs, ordering an estimate within the next two weeks.
In recent court filings, OAN lawyer Charles Babcock of Jackson Walker had taken aim at the voting company’s delay, lambasting Smartmatic’s defense that it was waiting for their expert to complete the calculations as an excuse.
Babcock demanded the hearing to challenge the “massive and constitutionally suspect damages sought” that they said would “silence this small, family-owned television channel, thus eliminating one more, albeit conservative, voice.”
Upadhyaya seemed amused by his characterization of the news network, noting the extensive seven-person legal team defending the channel on Monday.
Babcock characterized his client as determined to "aggressively defend itself" from a potential amount in damages that could sink the station entirely.
Near the end of the day’s proceedings, Upadhyaya denied several requests OAN had made to inspect the source code and the voting machines used in the 2020 election — primarily because Smartmatic does not own the source code or machines; a third party in LA County does — but granted in part requests for code that Smartmatic may have copies of.
Monday’s hearing comes as Smartmatic revealed in court filings it had evidence OAN executives broke the law in the wake of the 2020 election by stealing the passwords to a trove of email accounts belonging to Smartmatic employees and providing it to former Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell.
According to Smartmatic, the passwords were collected in a spreadsheet and sent via email on Jan. 8, 2021, two days after a mob of Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol.
Powell has since pleaded guilty to state racketeering charges in Fulton County, Georgia, related to her efforts as part of Trump’s campaign legal team to overturn the state’s 2020 presidential election.
Smartmatic has also sued Fox News, Newsmax, Rudy Giuliani and Trump over defamatory comments made in the wake of the 2020 election in New York and Delaware.
Follow @Ryan_Knappy
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.
Additional Reads
-
Biden taps four for Eastern courts May 8, 2024 -
