The Daily

The $2.7 Billion Case Against Fox News

Episode Summary

“The Earth is round. Two plus two equals four. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the 2020 election for president and vice president of the United States.” So begins the 280-page complaint filed by Smartmatic, an election software company, against the Fox Corporation. Smartmatic accuses the network of doing irreparable damage to the company’s business by allowing election conspiracy theorists to use Fox News as a megaphone for misinformation. Today, we hear from Antonio Mugica, Smartmatic’s C.E.O., and the lawyer Erik Connelly about the $2.7 billion case.

Episode Notes

“The Earth is round. Two plus two equals four. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the 2020 election for president and vice president of the United States.” So begins the 280-page complaint filed by Smartmatic, an election software company, against the Fox Corporation.

Smartmatic accuses the network of doing irreparable damage to the company’s business by allowing election conspiracy theorists to use Fox News as a megaphone for misinformation.

Today, we hear from Antonio Mugica, Smartmatic’s C.E.O., and the lawyer Erik Connelly about the $2.7 billion case.

Guest: Ben Smith, the media columnist for The New York Times. 

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Background reading: 

• In the latest volley in the dispute over disinformation in the presidential election, Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Corporation has been sued by Smartmatic, which accuses his cable networks of defamation and contributing to the fervor that led to the siege of the Capitol.
• In December, Ben Smith spoke with Mr. Mugica and Mr. Connelly about the claims being made against Smartmatic. Read the interview here.  

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.