Delaware judge sets parameters for trial in Smartmatic defamation lawsuit against Newsmax

The judge presiding over a defamation lawsuit pitting an electronic voting machine manufacturer targeted by allies of former President Donald Trump against a conservative news outlet that aired accusations of vote manipulation in the 2020 election set several parameters for an impending trial Monday.

Superior Court Judge Eric Davis also told attorneys for Florida-based Smartmatic and cable network Newsmax to narrow their list of potential witnesses ahead of a trial that is set to begin Sept. 26 with jury selection and could last up to four weeks.

Smartmatic claims that Newsmax program hosts and guests made false and defamatory statements in November and December 2020 implying that Smartmatic participated in rigging the results and that its software was used to switch votes.

Newsmax, also based in Florida, argues that it was simply reporting on serious and newsworthy allegations being made by Trump and his supporters, including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and conservative attorney Sidney Powell.

During a daylong pretrial conference on Monday, Davis considered several motions by each side asking him to limit or prohibit evidence the opposing side sought to present.

The judge, for example, narrowly granted Smartmatic’s motion to limit evidence by Newsmax regarding a federal criminal investigation that led

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