LinkedIn Billionaire Bankrolls Voting Firm Smartmatic As It Fights Fox News In 2020 Election Defamation Case

Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, offers major financial support to Smartmatic as the voting technology business fights Fox News and Newsmax over the right-wing networks’ repeated airing of 2020 election hoaxes.

Hoffman, a wealthy venture capitalist and major Democratic fundraiser, described his multimillion-dollar investment in Smartmatic as a method to boost the company’s global operations as it pursues costly defamation litigation.

LinkedIn | PixaBay Image

LinkedIn Billionaire Bankrolls Voting Firm Smartmatic As It Fights Fox News In 2020 Election Defamation Case

“Smartmatic built a global business by using technology to better engage citizens, regardless of party or ideology, by making voting simple and trustworthy,” Hoffman said to reporters in a statement. “After Donald Trump lost in 2020, however, Smartmatic became a target of the defamatory campaign to overturn his defeat.”

Hoffman, who has known Smartmatic CEO Antonio Mugica for years, said he is “thrilled” to support the company and assist Mugica in recovering “what he is owed.”

The terms of the investment, as first reported by The Washington Post, were not disclosed.

A person who knew the case declined to reveal how much money Hoffman invested in Smartmatic but told CNN that the eight-figure investment exceeded $10 million.

“This isn’t litigation financing,” the individual said, adding that Hoffman “thinks the company is massively undervalued” and will profit from his investment if Smartmatic succeeds. Furthermore, despite Hoffman’s considerable investment, he “doesn’t have the power” to instruct Smartmatic’s lawyers to settle the litigation, according to the person.

“Fox’s strategy was to spend us into the ground,” the insider explained. “This is the response.”

The investment comes as Hoffman increases his criticism of Trump. The LinkedIn co-founder told CNN earlier this month that corporate leaders are afraid to come out against Trump because they fear that the presumptive Republican nominee may retaliate. Hoffman stated that President Joe Biden is the more “pro-business” candidate because he upholds the rule of law, whereas Trump does not.

Mugica, CEO of Smartmatic, praised Hoffman’s support.

“The lies told by Fox News and Newsmax have not only defamed and damaged our business, they have also directly attacked the integrity of the nonpartisan civic work we have supported over more than two decades,” Mugica told reporters.

Smartmatic is demanding billions of dollars in damages from Fox News, Newsmax, and other right-wing individuals who wrongly accused it of rigging the 2020 election. Top Donald Trump allies regularly alleged on social media and in TV interviews that Smartmatic software unlawfully changed millions of votes from Trump to Biden, despite the lack of evidence.

The voting technology company’s defamation case against Fox News is still in the fact-finding “discovery” stage and is not scheduled for trial until 2025. Earlier this year, the New York judge presiding over the case allowed Smartmatic to expand its complaint to include Fox Corporation, the cable news behemoth’s parent firm.

The Smartmatic-Newsmax action will go to trial in Delaware Superior Court in September unless a last-minute deal is reached. One America News, a small pro-Trump propaganda network, recently settled a lawsuit filed by Smartmatic over similar charges.

All of these media outlets and Trump friends have denied any misconduct.

A Fox News Media spokeswoman claimed Smartmatic is attempting to “chill First Amendment freedoms” and criticized its “alliance with a high-profile Democratic donor and longtime supporter of President Biden to fund their lawsuit is entirely predictable.”

LinkedIn | CNN Image

LinkedIn Billionaire Bankrolls Voting Firm Smartmatic As It Fights Fox News In 2020 Election Defamation Case

In response to Hoffman’s investment, a Newsmax lawyer informed CNN that the organization “reported fairly on both sides of the 2020 election.” The lawyer further stated that the Justice Department recently charged Smartmatic officials in a bribery plot involving a prominent Philippine election official. Smartmatic disputes the charges.

Smartmatic is also suing Sidney Powell, Trump’s 2020 campaign counsel, and Mike Lindell, CEO of MyPillow, two of the most egregious election disinformation propagators. A Powell spokesperson did not immediately reply to calls for comment.

“It appears that Mr. Hoffman is trying to take a page out of the Fox settlement and copy Staple Street’s investment in Dominion to get a quick return,” Lindell attorney Christopher Kachouroff said, referring to the private equity firm that owns a majority stake in Dominion and benefited from its $787 million settlement with Fox News.

SOURCE – CNN