What were the legal outcomes and settlements in Dominion’s and Smartmatic’s major defamation cases after 2020?
Executive summary
Dominion and Smartmatic brought sweeping defamation suits after the 2020 election; Dominion secured a landmark $787.5 million settlement from Fox News and later settled with Newsmax for $67 million, while Smartmatic has obtained at least a confidential settlement with Newsmax (reported September 26, 2024) and continues to press a $2.7 billion case against Fox that remains active in court [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]. Both companies have pursued multiple defendants beyond major networks—including personalities and smaller outlets—producing a mixture of large public payouts, confidential deals, and ongoing litigation [3] [4].
1. Dominion’s headline victory: Fox News pays $787.5 million and Newsmax later settles
Dominion’s most consequential legal outcome came when Fox News agreed to pay $787.5 million to resolve Dominion’s defamation lawsuit over network coverage that alleged Dominion rigged the 2020 election, a last‑minute settlement reached as the trial was set to begin and described as one of the largest defamation payouts in U.S. history [1] [6]. Separately, Newsmax was ordered by a Delaware judge to have defamed Dominion and the parties reached a $67 million settlement, which Newsmax said it settled while still denying it acted with defamation, and that it had sought to present both sides of election disputes [3] [2]. Dominion’s litigation campaign has also produced other pending actions against outlets and individuals—cases that have not all been resolved and that include suits against OANN, Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Mike Lindell and others [3].
2. Smartmatic’s partial wins and the long game against Fox
Smartmatic settled with Newsmax before jury selection in late September 2024, with terms reported as confidential by multiple outlets, and that settlement ended what might have been the first trial among the rival technology companies’ cases after the Dominion‑Fox settlement [4] [5] [7]. Smartmatic’s much larger $2.7 billion suit against Fox—filed in New York and targeting anchors as well as the network—survived early dismissal attempts and remains active, with judges restoring certain claims and the company signaling it will “expose the rest” of alleged disinformation practices; as of the most recent coverage in these sources, that Fox case had not been resolved and could proceed to trial unless settled [1] [8] [4].
3. Multiplicity of defendants: settlements, confidential deals, and continuing court fights
Both voting‑technology firms pursued a constellation of defendants, producing varied outcomes: Fox’s public $787.5 million payout to Dominion, Newsmax’s $67 million payment to Dominion and a separate confidential Newsmax‑Smartmatic settlement, while other suits—against outlets such as OANN and figures like Giuliani, Powell and Lindell—remain in different procedural stages, with some trials proceeding and others stayed or pending [1] [3] [4] [7]. Reporting indicates Dominion’s aggregate recoveries from various settlements exceed $800 million when tallied with other deals, though individual case statuses differ across courts and defendants [3].
4. Judicial findings, evidentiary disclosures and competing narratives
The litigation produced damaging internal documents and depositions—especially in the Dominion‑Fox case—that plaintiffs say show awareness within newsrooms that fraud claims were baseless; defendants uniformly deny liability and assert defenses such as reporting on controversial public concerns or free‑speech protections, a tension that has shaped motions, rulings and settlement negotiations [1] [8] [3]. Smartmatic and Dominion both frame settlements as accountability for disinformation that harmed their businesses and public trust in elections, while networks and hosts have sometimes framed lawsuits as meritless attacks on press freedom or as business decisions to avoid protracted trials [8] [4] [3].
5. What remains unresolved and why the litigation matters
Significant litigation threads remain: Smartmatic’s $2.7 billion suit against Fox and other pending suits against on‑air personalities and smaller outlets could yield more rulings or settlements and continue to shape media liability norms, but at least some outcomes—such as confidential settlements and ongoing discovery fights over destroyed or withheld documents—mean that the full legal and factual record is still unfolding in multiple jurisdictions [9] [4] [1]. Reporting limitations prevent a definitive catalog of every confidential settlement or the final disposition of every defendant, so current public totals and case counts reflect what courts and major news reports have disclosed to date [3] [4].