Smartmatic Says Murdochs Approved Fox News Pivot to 2020 Election Fraud Claims

Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch authorized a plan for Fox News to embrace former President Donald Trump’s false 2020 election‑fraud allegations as part of an effort to win back conservative viewers, Smartmatic’s lawyer, J. Erik Connolly, told New York State Supreme Court Justice David B. Cohen during oral arguments in Manhattan.

“The conservative viewers, their bread and butter, abandoned them,” Connolly said. “So what do they do? They return back to what they know best: disinformation, pro‑Trump messaging and xenophobia. The election story and the election‑fraud claims were the perfect vehicle for them to get back onto their core messaging.”

Case at a glance

The statements were made as the court weighed Smartmatic’s $2.7 billion defamation suit against Fox News and considered pretrial motions that could narrow the issues before a potential trial next year. Smartmatic argues that senior Fox executives hatched a deliberate “pivot” to amplify false fraud claims after the network called Arizona for Joe Biden on election night, which the company says harmed its business and reputation.

What Smartmatic presented

Smartmatic’s filings include internal communications and broadcast examples showing some Fox employees privately expressing doubt about the fraud allegations and being dismissive of central figures who spread them, including Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell. The filings also cite hosts such as Jeanine Pirro and Maria Bartiromo as having expressed a willingness to help then‑President Trump.

To obtain summary judgment on the issue of actual malice, Smartmatic must show that key Fox figures either knew the fraud claims were false or acted with reckless disregard for the truth but allowed the false statements to be broadcast.

Fox’s response

Fox attorney K. Winn Allen vigorously rejected Smartmatic’s account of orders from the Murdochs. “No disinformation campaign was ordered,” Allen said. “It is total bunk…hogwash. It is not supported by the record.” He told the court that Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch — who at the time served as chair and executive chair of Fox Corporation — did not instruct staff to cover Smartmatic or the election‑fraud allegations.

In depositions, both Rupert Murdoch (who later stepped down as chair) and Lachlan Murdoch (who remains executive chair and CEO) denied encouraging the network to broadcast the election‑fraud assertions.

Legal context and next steps

Judge Cohen indicated he would review the broadcasts at issue before ruling. He warned Smartmatic’s lawyer that obtaining summary judgment on the actual malice standard — proving Fox personnel knew statements were false or had strong reason to doubt them — would be a "hard sell." The judge said he has ample materials to review, including video, briefs and internal documents.

Smartmatic’s theory echoes arguments raised in Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation suit against Fox, where a Delaware judge found certain Fox statements false and defamatory per se. Those pretrial rulings were influential in Dominion’s decision to settle for $787.5 million in April 2023. Viet D. Dinh, a former Fox legal officer, later said those rulings had constrained the company and helped prompt the settlement.

Smartmatic has asked the court to decide several pretrial issues but maintains that a jury should determine any damages the company may receive.

Key questions now: Did Fox decision‑makers knowingly allow false election claims to be broadcast? If so, were those broadcasts defamatory and did they cause measurable harm to Smartmatic?