A New York appeals court has opened the door for Fox News to dig deeper into records tied to a federal criminal indictment of Smartmatic, while firmly shutting down the network’s bid to slow-walk the company’s $2.7 billion defamation suit. The split decision gives Fox a narrow discovery win but keeps the high-stakes case marching toward trial in Manhattan.
The panel partially relaxed earlier limits that had kept certain materials off-limits to Fox, concluding that the superseding federal indictment was unusual enough that blocking related discovery could unfairly handicap the network, according to the AP. At the same time, the court refused to toss its prior ruling or pause the civil case until the criminal matter is resolved, which means the New York litigation continues on its current track.
The criminal proceedings stem from a superseding indictment unsealed Oct. 16, 2025, in the Southern District of Florida. Prosecutors added SGO Corporation Limited, better known as Smartmatic, and several executives on charges that include alleged bribery and money laundering tied to Philippine election contracts, according to a Justice Department press release. The filing describes more than $1 million in allegedly illicit payments and an alleged scheme to hide those transfers; the federal case is still pending.
In Manhattan court, Smartmatic says Fox’s 2020 election coverage wrecked its U.S. growth plans. Fox, for its part, argues that separate probes and the criminal allegations help explain the company’s financial losses. Internal texts and deposition excerpts that have surfaced in the case show Fox hosts and producers sometimes brushed off fraud claims; one frequently cited Dec. 5, 2020 text from Jesse Watters about ratings appears in the filings, and Watters later testified he had “seen no evidence that Smartmatic technology switched votes,” as reported by The Washington Post.
Legal implications
The additional discovery the appeals court allowed is tightly focused and aimed primarily at the issue of damages: whether Smartmatic’s reputation and revenue were already hurt by alleged overseas misconduct rather than by Fox’s broadcasts. That distinction matters, since criminal allegations in another jurisdiction typically go to how big any damages might be, not to whether on-air statements were false or made with actual malice, a point highlighted in coverage by Mediaite. For Fox, the records could become ammunition to chip away at a potential damages award; for Smartmatic, the central questions about falsity and intent remain squarely on the table.
What’s next
The ruling sets the stage for more document requests and depositions tied specifically to the superseding indictment, but it does not give Fox an escape hatch from the civil schedule. Discovery fights, motion practice, and pretrial maneuvering will continue in Manhattan before any trial date is locked in, with fresh skirmishes likely over what indictment-related material a jury can see and how judges explain those separate criminal allegations.
Both camps spun the outcome as a partial victory. Fox News Media said it was “pleased with the court’s decision to grant our request to conduct discovery into the impact on Smartmatic’s business,” while Smartmatic said it “welcomes the appellate court’s decision denying Fox’s latest attempt to delay this case,” according to Mediaite. Lawyers on each side signaled they will press ahead with depositions and motions in the coming weeks.
For New York readers and national observers alike, the case remains a closely watched test of how courts balance First Amendment protections, high-dollar newsroom decisions, and the nuts and bolts of civil discovery when parallel criminal allegations lurk in the background. Expect this fight to keep surfacing in Manhattan dockets and national headlines as judges sort out where relevance ends and unfair prejudice begins.
