Smartmatic subpoenas Fox board members in defamation lawsuit

Voting systems company Smartmatic has issued subpoenas to four members of the board of directors at Fox Corp. in connection with its ongoing lawsuit against Fox News over the network's coverage of the 2020 election.

In motions filed with the Supreme Court of New York, Smartmatic requested relevant documents from four members of Fox's board of directors: Anne Dias, Charles Carey, Roland Hernandez and Jacques Nasser.

“Accountability and responsibility do not stop with Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch,” J. Erik Connolly, Smartmatic's attorney on its case, said in a statement to The Washington Post, which first reported on the subpoenas. “Smartmatic plans to pursue Fox’s board members as well to determine why they allowed the company’s most valuable asset, Fox News, to spread disinformation about the 2020 election.”

Smartmatic sued Fox for more than $2 billion after the 2020 election, arguing to network maliciously aired false information about its software being promoted by allies of former President Trump after the election.

Fox has argued in court filings and public statements that the allegations against the company were newsworthy and insisted Smartmatic is inflating its financial valuation.

Rupert Murdoch, who ceded control of Fox Corp. to his son Lachlan last year, faced a deposition from Smartmatic's lawyers last fall.

Fox last spring paid Dominion Voting Systems $787 million to settle a separate defamation lawsuit.

Smartmatic's case against the network is not expected to go to trial until 2025.