Smartmatic, the Florida-based election software company that has become the center of unfounded conspiracy theories about the November election, issued a demand for a retraction to Fox News, Newsmax and One America News for false information the networks broadcast, Reuters reports.
The three conservative, Trump supporting cable networks hves perpetuated a nonsensical story about Smartmatic and Dominion Voting Systems, a Smartmatic competitor, conspiring to flip votes in only 4 swing states. Dominion systems were used in 29 states; Smartmatic’s software was used in only one county in the United States, Los Angeles County.
The conspiracy theories have been debunked by both Democratic and Republican state election officials across the nation. Hand recounts have verified electronic tallies. And all software used in elections is reviewed and assessed by interstate, non-partisan auditors.
In a statement, Smartmatic threatened Fox News, Newsmax and One America News with defamation suits if they do not retract the statements hosts such as Lou Dobbs and Maria Bartiromo and guests like Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani have made on air. The company alleges that such unfounded claims have impacted its business opportunities, a material loss provable in court.
“I don’t think there is one customer in the world that has not come back to us to tell us either that this is a problem and this could endanger our future relationship – for existing customers – or that this could endanger a potential new contract,” Antonio Mugica, chief executive of Smartmatic said in an interview on Thursday.
[UPDATED at 11:35 a.m. to include information about the demands being made to Newsmax and One America News.]