Newsmax settles with Dominion for $67M over 2020 election defamation

A settlement has been reached in one of the last remaining defamation disputes over how the 2020 election was covered, with Newsmax agreeing to pay 67 million to Dominion Voting Systems. The agreement, disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, settles claims that Newsmax broadcast false assertions that Dominion rigged the election. The payments will be made in three installments over the next two years, bringing a near-term end to a high-profile chapter in the broader, multi-front litigation over election-related misinformation by some conservative media outlets.

Dominion filed suit in 2021, alleging that Newsmax repeatedly broadcast statements linking Dominion to vote-rigging schemes and even to foreign entities, while lending credence to conspiracy theories spread by guests and supporters of former President Donald Trump. Dominion had sought damages initially estimated at about 1.6 billion, arguing that the broadcaster endorsed and amplified verifiably false claims that could mislead viewers and tarnish Dominion’s reputation. A ruling in April 2025 by Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis found that Dominion had presented clear and convincing evidence that...