Smartmatic demands retractions from right-wing media outlets for pushing election fraud claims
Smartmatic, one of the voting machine companies involved in the 2020 election, is demanding a handful of conservative outlets that spread unsubstantiated theories about alleged fraud to retract their claims. The company sent a letter issuing legal notices and retraction demands to Fox News, Newsmax, and One America News Network for “publishing false and defamatory statements” that they claim “could have easily” been debunked “by investigating their statements before publishing them to millions of viewers and readers.” A statement from Smartmatic about the demands was published on their website on Monday. “They have no evidence to support their attacks on Smartmatic because there is no evidence. This campaign was designed to defame Smartmatic and undermine legitimately conducted elections,” said Antonio Mugica, CEO of Smartmatic. “Our efforts are more than just about Smartmatic or any other company. This campaign is an attack on election systems and election workers in an effort to depress confidence in future elections and potentially counter the will of the voters, not just here, but in democracies around the world.”
The letter to Fox News, which was obtained by the Washington Examiner on Monday, referenced a litany of statements from Trump campaign attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis made on-air, while singling out Fox Business anchors Maria Bartiromo and Lou Dobbs for their comments about Smartmatic. A comment made by Jesse Watters, co-host of The Five, was also referenced. "Smartmatic believes that Fox News did not, and does not, have a good faith basis for any of the statements and implications made in the Reports regarding Smartmatic," the letter stated. "There is no credible source – documented or otherwise – for any of these false and defamatory statements or implications. Nonetheless, Fox News allowed its reporters, anchors, and on-air guests to make these false and defamatory statements time and time again." None of the networks responded to requests for comment from the Washington Examiner.
Smartmatic and Dominion, another company that provided equipment used in the election, have faced unsubstantiated allegations that vote tallies were rigged against President Trump. One of the biggest promoters of the claims was Sidney Powell, who was part of the Trump campaign's legal team until they distanced themselves from her amid these claims. She produced an affidavit from a Venezuelan whistleblower, whom she says was a high-ranking military official once close to Hugo Chavez, who claimed Smartmatic software had the capability to clandestinely change votes. The whistleblower also claimed that Smartmatic software was used in Venezuela to help former socialist President Hugo Chavez win elections in 2006 and 2013. Smartmatic spokeswoman Samira Saba denied Powell's allegations at the time, telling the Washington Examiner, "Smartmatic has registered and counted nearly 5 billion auditable votes without a single spoiled vote or security breach. We designed our technology to enable all election stakeholders audit the entire process. All audits conducted to elections in which our technology was employed proved the integrity of results." She added that elections that used Smartmatic technology "have been validated by world renown institutions such as the Carter Center, the United Nations, the Organization of American States, and the European Union." According to Saba, no Smartmatic software was used in any county in the 2020 elections other than Los Angeles County in California. An election security group, which includes the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said last month that there is "no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised," contrary to Trump's claims that the election was "rigged" in favor of President-elect Joe Biden. Additionally, most election officials and the Department of Justice have found no proof to support allegations of widespread fraud on a scale large enough to overturn the election results.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/smartmatic-demands-retractions-from-right-wing-media-outlets-for-pushing-election-fraud-claims
https://www.mediaite.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Legal-Notice-and-Retraction-Demand-from-Smartmatic-USA-Corp-to-Fox-News.pdf