“Smartmatic’s 285-page, $2.7 billion complaint is not just meritless; it is a legal shakedown designed to chill speech and punish reporting on issues that cut to the heart of our democracy,” Bartiromo’s attorneys wrote in her response to the election systems company’s lawsuit.
Bartiromo’s response calls for dismissal of the lawsuit under New York’s anti-SLAPP law, which is designed to prevent the stifling of speech via litigation threats.
Bartiromo, Dobbs and Pirro were named as defendants in Smartmatic’s lawsuit filed last week. On Monday evening, defendants Fox Corp. and Fox News also filed a motion to dismiss the case. Two other defendants are named in the lawsuit, Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, who have been guests on Fox News shows.
Smartmatic claims in a 285-page lawsuit that its reputation “irreparably harmed” when some of its news personalities and guests targeted the company as responsible for rigging election results.
In their lawsuit, Smartmatic accuses the defendants, disappointed that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the election, of inventing the story of the company’s involvement in election fraud. Smartmatic identified 13 Fox News segments from November and December, in which on-air personalities and guests implied or stated the company “had stolen the 2020 U.S. election,” according to their complaint.
Dobbs’ show, Lou Dobbs Tonight, was dropped from the Fox Business lineup last week, one day after Smartmatic filed its lawsuit.
Fox News and its personalities are represented by Kirkland & Ellis, including Paul Clement, who was solicitor general under George W. Bush.
In its motion to dismiss earlier this week, Fox News also argued that Smartmatic is a public figure, meaning it would have to prove that the network “published the challenged statements with actual malice—knowing or reckless disregard of the truth.”
More to come.