Court Records: Smartmatic Concealed Dem Megadonor Meeting

Smartmatic, an electronic voting company suing Fox News for alleged defamation over 2020 election coverage, reportedly concealed a meeting with Democratic megadonor Reid Hoffman, according to newly unsealed court documents. 

After the 2020 election, Fox News and Newsmax aired commentators’ concerns about voting machine security, prompting Smartmatic to file defamation lawsuits. Fox settled a similar case with Dominion Voting Systems, while Newsmax settled with Smartmatic for $40 million, per NBC.

Fox previously raised suspicions of a “deep-pocketed third party” funding Smartmatic’s lawsuit, which Smartmatic denied in 2023, Reuters reported. However, The Washington Post revealed in July 2024 that Hoffman had invested millions in Smartmatic, connecting with CEO Antonio Mugica through mutual contacts to support its litigation against Fox. Unsealed filings from the New York State Supreme Court allege Mugica met with “politically motivated investors” to discuss Smartmatic’s finances and investment prospects, a fact Smartmatic withheld during a February 5, 2025, court hearing.

The documents claim Hoffman and his adviser Dmitri Mehlhorn provided $25 million to fund Smartmatic’s lawsuit against Fox, with Hoffman publicly stating Smartmatic could be worth $400 million absent the alleged defamation. 

A deposition from the Newsmax case confirmed a private meeting between Hoffman and Mugica, undisclosed at the February hearing, where they discussed Smartmatic’s finances and the lawsuit. The filing further alleges Smartmatic failed to disclose a litigation-funding agreement with a Hoffman-controlled entity, which Fox discovered through media reports in July 2024, just before the close of fact discovery.

A Fox News representative told The Federalist that Hoffman’s involvement was unsurprising.