Newsmax and voting technology company Smartmatic reached a settlement Thursday in a defamation lawsuit.

The last-minute agreement comes as jury selection begins in a Delaware courtroom and opening statements are scheduled for Monday. According to On CNN. Details of the settlement were not disclosed, but Newsmax Confirmed The resolution is Thursday afternoon.

“Newsmax is pleased to announce that it has resolved the lawsuit brought by Smartmatic in a confidential settlement,” the network said in a statement.

Smartmatic and Newsmax reached a settlement in the voting technology company's election defamation lawsuit against a right-wing news organization just before the lawsuit began. https://t.co/A8maTJijbT

— NBC News (@NBCNews) September 26, 2024

The lawsuit was supposed to be the first of several filed against conservative media outlets after the 2020 election, CNN reported. The lawsuit was scheduled to prove whether Newsmax defamed Smartmatic by falsely claiming its machines manipulated election results against former President Donald Trump.

“We are very pleased to ensure that the lawsuit against Newsmax is completed,” Smartmatic wrote to X. “We now look forward to our day in court against Fox Company and Fox News for their disinformation campaign. There are consequences for lying to the American people. Until the perpetrators are held accountable, Smartmatic… It won't stop.”

In December 2020, Smartmatic issued legal notices to Fox News, One America News, and Newsmax for promoting a “disinformation campaign.” Voting technology companies say these networks have used defamatory content, including suggesting that Smartmatic facilitated election fraud in favor of Biden and falsely linking Smartmatic to George Soros and former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. He claims to have spread the same argument.

Smartmatic then filed a defamation lawsuit in November 2021 against Newsmax Media and Herring Networks, owner of One America News Network, over their coverage of the 2020 presidential election. According to CNN, Newsmax has denied any wrongdoing and argued that the First Amendment protects its reporting. (Related: 'They've been following us': OANN host speaks to Tucker about Democrats' attempt to shut down network)

Smartmatic initially sought billions of dollars in damages, but reduced its claim to about $370 million following pretrial developments, according to CNN. The reduction follows a ruling by Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis that limits Smartmatic's claims to provable losses and excludes punitive damages.

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