{"id":2437748,"date":"2025-05-22T05:43:01","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T09:43:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/filing-smartmatic-execs-deleted-records-related-to-fox-lawsuit\/"},"modified":"2025-05-22T05:47:35","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T09:47:35","slug":"filing-smartmatic-execs-deleted-records-related-to-fox-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/filing-smartmatic-execs-deleted-records-related-to-fox-lawsuit\/","title":{"rendered":"Filing: Smartmatic Execs Deleted Records Related To Fox Lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffiling-smartmatic-execs-deleted-records-related-to-fox-lawsuit%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2437748&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A recent legal filing by Fox news claims that senior officials at Smartmatic, the voting software company, engaged in the deletion and alteration of crucial evidence related to a defamation lawsuit against Fox. this memorandum,submitted to the New York Supreme Court,alleges that Smartmatic&#8217;s CEO,Antonio mugica,directed the deletion of WhatsApp messages that discussed meaningful damages related to the lawsuit,which seeks $2.7 billion from Fox for allegedly baseless claims about Smartmatic&#8217;s role in the 2020 election. Fox&#8217;s complaint further asserts that nearly two dozen Smartmatic employees deleted relevant messages in a bid to obstruct Fox&#8217;s defense.<\/p>\n<p>The filing indicates that such actions were taken while Smartmatic&#8217;s executives were under examination for bribery and corruption. Fox News is asking the court to recognize this destruction of evidence and impose consequences that could significantly impact Smartmatic&#8217;s damage claims. In response, Smartmatic&#8217;s attorney refuted Fox&#8217;s accusations, suggesting they were merely attempts to distract from Fox&#8217;s own issues with evidence preservation. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ags-sue-to-stop-new-rule-giving-free-health-care-to-illegals\/\" title=\"AGs Sue To Stop New Rule Giving &#039;Free&#039; Health Care To Illegals\">case reflects ongoing tensions<\/a> between the two entities following contentious reporting around the 2020 election.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=R_taR9fKQfg\">Smartmatic\/YouTube<\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/05\/22\/filing-smartmatic-executives-deleted-data-messages-related-to-lawsuit-over-election-reporting\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=Filing:%20Smartmatic%20Executives%20Deleted%20Data,%20Messages%20Related%20To%20Lawsuit%20Over%20Election%20Reporting&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/05\/22\/filing-smartmatic-executives-deleted-data-messages-related-to-lawsuit-over-election-reporting\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=Filing:%20Smartmatic%20Executives%20Deleted%20Data,%20Messages%20Related%20To%20Lawsuit%20Over%20Election%20Reporting&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/05\/22\/filing-smartmatic-executives-deleted-data-messages-related-to-lawsuit-over-election-reporting\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\" https:><\/path><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/05\/22\/filing-smartmatic-executives-deleted-data-messages-related-to-lawsuit-over-election-reporting\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=Filing:%20Smartmatic%20Executives%20Deleted%20Data,%20Messages%20Related%20To%20Lawsuit%20Over%20Election%20Reporting&amp;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/05\/22\/filing-smartmatic-executives-deleted-data-messages-related-to-lawsuit-over-election-reporting\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &amp; Email\"><span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>Senior officials at the voting software company Smartmatic ordered the deletion and doctoring of evidence relevant to its ongoing defamation case against Fox News, a court filing made on Wednesday alleges.<\/p>\n<p>In its new memorandum filed with the New York Supreme Court, Fox News claimed that multiple Smartmatic officials &mdash; including its CEO &mdash; are complicit in the spoliation of records pertaining to the ongoing legal saga between the two companies.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-970016789\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>As The Federalist&rsquo;s Beth Brelje previously <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/05\/16\/legal-filing-smartmatic-was-hemorrhaging-cash-long-before-2020-election-controversy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>, &ldquo;Smartmatic seeks $2.7 billion from Fox in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/legal-filing-smartmatic-bled-cash-long-before-2020-election-beef\/\" title=\"Legal Filing: ... Bled Cash Long Before ... Beef\">years-long defamation case<\/a> in which it accuses Fox of reporting without evidence that the company&rsquo;s software had a role in rigging the 2020 election. This, the company has said in court fillings, caused Smartmatic to lose business.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Specifically, Fox alleges in its new complaint, &ldquo;On the eve of filing this lawsuit, and while the U.S. Department of Justice was investigating Smartmatic and its executives for bribery and corruption, Smartmatic&rsquo;s CEO Antonio Mugica, <em>in writing<\/em>, ordered Smartmatic&rsquo;s President Roger Pi&ntilde;ate Jr. &mdash; who has since been federally indicted for those crimes &mdash; to delete WhatsApp mobile messages discussing critical damages issues surrounding the outlandish $2.7 billion the company planned to seek from Fox.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The media company further contended that, several days prior to those alleged actions, &ldquo;a top Smartmatic executive, again <em>in writing<\/em>, directed his subordinates to doctor key customer records to manufacture support for the massive damages case Smartmatic had invented.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;[W]hile they should have been retaining documents, key Smartmatic employees deleted their mobile messages, depriving Fox of yet more evidence undermining Smartmatic&rsquo;s unsupported damages claim,&rdquo; the complaint reads. <\/p>\n<p>The legal filing includes allegations that almost &ldquo;<em><strong>two dozen<\/strong><\/em>  Smartmatic executives and <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >sales personnel deleted data relevant<\/a> to Smartmatic&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fox-news-seeks-sanctions-against-smartmatic-over-deleted-evidence-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"... seeks sanctions against ... over \u2018deleted ...\u2019 - Washington Examiner\">multi-billion-dollar damages claims<\/a> either shortly before or while this case was pending.&rdquo; &ldquo;For many witnesses,&rdquo; Fox argued, &ldquo;the spoliation is pervasive and resulted in the apparent deletion of all, or nearly all, of their mobile data.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The destroyed text messages have left serious gaps in the record from individuals who were directly responsible for developing Smartmatic&rsquo;s farfetched damages story,&rdquo; the filing reads. &ldquo;Smartmatic, its CEO, and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/analysis-twitter-has-legal-edge-in-deal-dispute-with-musk\/\" title=\"Analysis-Twitter has legal edge in deal dispute with Musk\">high-ranking employees<\/a> at issue were plainly hoping to leave Fox with nothing to rebut the self-interested testimony of the Smartmatic witnesses who provide the company&rsquo;s sole evidence of damages. This destruction of evidence should not be rewarded.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The latest allegations come nearly a week after Fox <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/05\/16\/legal-filing-smartmatic-was-hemorrhaging-cash-long-before-2020-election-controversy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">filed<\/a> a separate court document contending that, contrary to the voting software company&rsquo;s claims, Smartmatic was enduring financial struggles prior to the 2020 election. As noted by Brelje, &ldquo;The filing also claimed that Smartmatic&rsquo;s equipment was not certified, the company didn&rsquo;t follow bidding requirements, and its services were not competitively priced.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><strong>[Filing:[Filing:<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/05\/08\/filing-smartmatic-hid-meeting-with-dem-megadonor-who-financed-its-suit-against-2020-election-reporting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Smartmatic Hid Meeting With Dem Megadonor Who Financed Its Suit Against 2020 Election Reporting<\/a>]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As part of its Wednesday filing, Fox asked the court to issue an order &ldquo;finding intentional spoliation by Smartmatic, and entering all relief that the Court deems appropriate.&rdquo; The media company requested that such a directive &ldquo;includ[e] but not [be] limited to adverse inferences that the spoliated evidence undermined Smartmatic&rsquo;s damages claims, striking Smartmatic&rsquo;s lost-profits claims for opportunities arising after 2022, and limiting Smartmatic&rsquo;s general-damages claims to nominal damages.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>When pressed for comment, a Fox News representative referred The Federalist to the legal filings the media company made on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement to The Federalist responding to Fox&rsquo;s latest filing, Erik Connolly, an attorney representing Smartmatic in the case, said, &ldquo;Fox continues to smear Smartmatic to distract from the truth: Fox lied following the 2020 election and has repeatedly lied to shield itself from accountability in this case.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Fox&rsquo;s baseless attacks are nothing more than retaliation, a deliberate effort to avoid addressing its own destruction of evidence,&rdquo; Connolly said. &ldquo;Smartmatic has met all of its legal obligations in this case. Unlike Fox, Smartmatic has preserved and produced evidence in accordance with New York law.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><em>For more election news and updates, visit&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/electionbriefing.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">electionbriefing.com<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Shawn Fleetwood<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShawnFleetwood\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@ShawnFleetwood<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/shawnfleetwood\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/2020-election\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">2020 Election<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/defamation\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">defamation<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/election-integrity\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">election integrity<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/elections\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Elections<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/fox-news\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Fox News<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/lawsuit\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Lawsuit<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/legal-complaint\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">legal complaint<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/reporting\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">reporting<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/smartmatic\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Smartmatic<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/spoliation\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">spoliation<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/voting-machines\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">voting machines<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Smartmatic executives allegedly ordered the deletion and alteration of evidence in their defamation case against Fox News, according to a court filing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2437750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Smartmatic.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[4363,32135,4585,5428],"class_list":["post-2437748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-executives","tag-fox-news","tag-lawsuit","tag-smartmatic"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Smartmatic.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2437748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2437748"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2437748\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2437752,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2437748\/revisions\/2437752"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2437750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2437748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2437748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2437748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}