Court Rules In Favor Of Fox News vs. Smartmatic

A New York appeals court ruled Thursday morning in favor of FOX News, allowing the network to pursue additional discovery on how federal criminal proceedings against Smartmatic and its executives have affected the company’s business.

The decision enables FOX News to examine the impact of a superseding indictment that named Smartmatic as a defendant, particularly regarding allegations tied to the company’s activities in Los Angeles County.

This discovery will proceed on the same terms already permitted for allegations involving Venezuela.In a statement, FOX News Media said:

“We are pleased with the court’s decision to grant our request to conduct discovery into the impact on Smartmatic’s business of its indictment and allegations in the criminal case involving Smartmatic’s business activities in Los Angeles County.”

The appellate order modifies a prior trial court ruling. It vacates the portion of the Judicial Hearing Officer (JHO) report that had denied FOX News (the defendants) discovery related to the Los Angeles County criminal allegations. It grants the network’s request for such discovery, aligning it with what was already allowed for the Venezuela-related claims.

Disallowing discovery on its impact, the court said, would cause “substantial prejudice” to the defendants.