Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against right-wing news outlet Newsmax will get its day in court this fall — right before the 2024 voting begins.
A Delaware judge scheduled the $1.6 billion suit to go to trial in late September 2024, CNN reported. Dominion sued Newsmax, One America News (OAN) and former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne for defamation in August 2021 over its coverage of the 2020 election.
The voting machine company already emerged victorious in a similar suit against Fox News, walking away with a $787 million settlement, believed to be the largest defamation settlement in US history.
OAN also settled with Dominion earlier this month, CNN reported. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. The Byrne case, along with a series of other suits Dominion brought against Trump allies like Rudy Giuliani and “My Pillow” CEO Mike Lindell are still pending, Reuters reported.
The date set for the Newsmax trial by Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis — the same judge who presided over the Fox case — means that unless there is another surprise settlement, the lies over the results of the 2020 election will be debated in court just days before early voting beings for the 2024 election in several states, including swing states like Michigan and Ohio.
Trump is the frontrunner by a wide margin for the Republican nomination in what is shaping up to be a rematch against President Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket.
Newsmax is also facing a suit from another voting company, Smartmatic, that was targeted in right-wing broadcasts after the 2020 election.