Smartmatic USA filed court papers Tuesday asking a Miami judge to throw out a federal bribery case. The company claims the Department of Justice is running a campaign of revenge for its multi-billion dollar lawsuits against Fox News and other allies of the current administration. Lawyers for the tech firm say the government is using old, unrelated business deals to punish them for fighting stories about the 2020 election.
Smartmatic argues the criminal indictment serves as a strategic block to its $2.7 billion defamation suit against Trump-aligned media.
THE CHARGES AND THE SHIFT
The criminal case focuses on events far away from American voting booths. The government claims the company used dirty money to win contracts in the Philippines.
Payments happened between 2015 and 2018.
Roger Pinate, a former executive and current shareholder, pleaded not guilty to these charges.
The company says the DOJ only cared about these old Philippine contracts after the company started winning its defamation battles.
FRICTION IN THE COURTS
| Entity | Role in Dispute | Legal Friction |
|---|---|---|
| Smartmatic | Tech Provider | Suing Fox/Newsmax for $2.7B |
| Fox News | Media Giant | Using criminal case to delay civil trials |
| Jeanine Pirro | US Attorney (DC) | Defendant in Smartmatic suit; Trump appointee |
| FBI | Law Enforcement | Recently seized Arizona 2020 records |
"Smartmatic USA has exercised its right to hold those individuals and entities legally accountable… putting it squarely in the crosshairs for retribution." — Exerpt from the court filing.
PATTERNS OF SELECTIVE PRESSURE
The company's lawyers argue this is a jagged pattern of using the law against enemies. They cited the case of Kilmar Armando Ábrego García, a migrant who was charged only after he won a lawsuit against the administration. They also noted that other figures like James Comey and Letitia James faced indictments that were eventually thrown out of court.
In Arizona, State Senate President Warren Petersen confirmed he just handed over a pile of 2020 election records to the FBI following a grand jury subpoena. This suggests a wide net is still being cast over old election data while the administration keeps up its talk about rigged outcomes.
THE BACKGROUND
Smartmatic became a household name after the 2020 election when it was featured in stories claiming the vote was stolen. While the company has won several rounds in civil court, the federal government's new interest in its 2015 Philippine business has created a heavy legal anchor. Fox News has already used the existence of this criminal probe to try and stop the defamation trial from moving forward. The White House has offered no comment on the claim that the DOJ is acting as a legal arm for the President’s personal and political defense.