Newsmax’s CEO deleted text messages and the company allowed key employees to delete emails as part of an effort to hide evidence the network knew was broadcasting falsehoods about the 2020 election, lawyers for voting machine company Smartmatic said in a bitter lawsuit. obtained by the Guardian last week.
The allegations were made as part of a motion for sanctions in an ongoing defamation lawsuit that Smartmatic filed against Newsmax for making false and bizarre claims about the company after the last presidential election. The case is scheduled to go to trial in the Delaware Supreme Court in September.
The motion, which contains significant redactions, says Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy deleted text messages after the company was asked to preserve documents and communications as part of a lawsuit. Smartmatic also claims that Newsmax allowed emails from Gary Kanofsky, its news director, who tried to warn other Newsmax staffers about broadcasting false claims about Smartmatic, to be deleted.
Attorneys for Smartmatic also allege that Newsmax allowed editor-in-chief David Perel’s posts to be deleted even though he warned Ruddy about a source’s credibility and was responsible for crafting Newsmax’s journalistic practices.
Newsmax, which denies publishing defamatory claims, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. NBC News first reported the lawsuit.
The messages are relevant to the case because Smartmatic must prove that Newsmax had “actual malice” and knew the statements were false or acted with reckless disregard for the truth and published them anyway.
“Newsmax destroyed the text messages and emails of key executives responsible for the smear campaign against Smartmatic. This was not a mistake,” Smartmatic’s attorneys wrote in the lawsuits. “Newsmax’s cover-up worked. Critical documents, including text messages and emails that pointed directly to Newsmax’s actual malice and motive, were permanently deleted.
Related: Voting equipment company Smartmatic settles defamation lawsuit with far-right network
Among the text messages reportedly deleted was one in which Ruddy referenced Sidney Powell, Trump’s lawyer who was one of the most prominent purveyors of false voter fraud allegations after the 2020 election. While the contents in the dossier are being redacted, Smartmatic described the message as Ruddy’s “unvarnished view of Ms. Powell’s credibility” and “direct evidence of actual malice.”
Ruddy claimed that the messages on his phone were set to automatically delete them every 30 days. An attorney said he didn’t change after Smartmatic told him to preserve communications. Despite that claim, Ruddy transferred another 1,106 text messages on May 2, which Smartmatic’s lawyers say is evidence that his text messages were not actually automatically deleted during the time period he claimed.
The filing also describes Kanofsky, the news director, as “the closest thing Newsmax had to a whistleblower.” Beginning in November 2020, Kanofsky allegedly sent emails to other Newsmax employees providing a fact-check about Smartmatic and warning them about broadcasting false claims. Newsmax allegedly did not tell Kanofsky to keep his emails and they were deleted. Smartmatic lawyers said that when they pressed Newsmax on why they did not turn over Kanofsky’s emails, Newsmax’s lawyers revealed that Kanofsky was in the habit of regularly deleting all of his work emails and storing them in his personal email. -mail.
David Perel, the editorial director, was also not instructed to retain emails, even though he sent relevant messages warning against publishing false claims. Smartmatic claimed. Perel was terminated in 2021 and Smartmatic said Newsmax deleted the messages on its company laptop.
Finally, Smartmatic claims that Newsmax attempted to conceal the existence of a document detailing its journalistic and ethical practices. Although the content of the guidelines is redacted in the filing, Smartmatic says Newsmax violated them by broadcasting false information.
“Newsmax’s misconduct goes beyond falsely accusing Smartmatic of manipulating the U.S. elections; it also attempted to conceal evidence of its actions and failed to follow its own journalistic standards,” J Erik Connolly, an attorney for Smartmatic, said in a statement.
Smartmatic has asked Judge Eric Davis, who is overseeing the case, to order the company to pay the legal fees it spent obtaining the hidden messages. It also asked Davis to inform the prospective jury of the concealment and instruct them to make an “adverse inference” about Newsmax’s motives.
The lawsuit is one of several defamation actions filed against conservative media as part of an effort to hold them accountable for spreading lies. Smartmatic and the voting machine company Dominion also have pending defamation lawsuits against Powell, Rudy Giuliani and Mike Lindell.
Smarmatic settled a defamation suit against far-right network OAN last month over undisclosed terms. Last year, Fox News agreed to pay Dominion $787.5 million to settle a defamation lawsuit it brought against the company over false election claims.
