Newsmax Agrees to Pay $67 Million in Defamation Lawsuit

Conservative media outlet Newsmax has agreed to pay $67 million to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems over false claims tied to the 2020 presidential election. The agreement, disclosed Monday in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, comes just two years after Fox News paid $787.5 million in a similar case and after Newsmax previously settled a $40 million lawsuit with another voting machine company, Smartmatic.

Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis had earlier ruled that Newsmax defamed Dominion by airing false allegations about its equipment but left it to a jury to decide whether the network acted with malice and how much in damages Dominion was owed. The settlement was reached before trial.

Internal communications made public during the case revealed that Newsmax executives and hosts knew many of the election fraud claims promoted by pro-Trump figures—including attorney Sidney Powell—were false, yet continued airing them. Even network owner Chris Ruddy privately expressed concern about Trump’s reliance on Powell.

The lawsuit highlighted how Newsmax capitalized on its refusal to call the election for Joe Biden, seeing it as a way to attract viewers who believed Donald Trump had won. Some of the most extreme claims, including conspiracies linking Dominion to deceased Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, were eventually retracted in December 2020.

Despite Trump’s continued insistence on election fraud, his claims have been consistently discredited. His own attorney general, William Barr, confirmed there was no evidence of widespread wrongdoing. Dozens of lawsuits brought by Trump and his allies failed in court, including before judges he appointed, and multiple audits and recounts affirmed Biden’s victory.

Since returning to office, Trump has escalated his attacks on those who challenged his claims. He pardoned individuals tied to the January 6th Capitol attack, ordered the Justice Department to investigate former cybersecurity official Chris Krebs for affirming election security, and targeted Susman Godfrey—the law firm representing Dominion—through an executive order banning the firm’s work with the government.