In a dramatic turn for the ongoing legal and political saga surrounding the 2020 U.S. presidential election, newly unredacted court documents and fresh allegations from federal prosecutors have cast a harsh spotlight on both Fox News and the election technology firm Smartmatic. The intertwined cases, rooted in claims of election fraud and international bribery, have unveiled a tangled web of private messages, global intrigue, and high-stakes litigation that continues to ripple through the American media and political landscape.
On August 19, 2025, a judicial hearing officer unsealed portions of a motion filed by Smartmatic in its $2.7 billion defamation suit against Fox News, making public a trove of private text messages from current and former Fox hosts. According to Mediaite and The Washington Post, these revelations provide a rare glimpse into the internal deliberations and personal dynamics at the network as it grappled with the fallout from Donald Trump’s baseless claims that the 2020 election had been rigged against him.
Among the most striking disclosures was a text from Jeanine Pirro, former Fox News host and now U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. In September 2020, Pirro boasted to then-Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel, “I work so hard for the party across the country. I’m the Number 1 watched show on all news cable all weekend. I work so hard for the President and party.” The filing also reveals Pirro’s efforts to secure a presidential pardon for her ex-husband, Albert Pirro, who had been convicted of tax evasion and conspiracy—a wish eventually granted by Trump.
The messages also shed light on tensions between Fox personalities. In an October 27, 2020, exchange, Pirro labeled her colleague Sean Hannity an “egomaniac,” describing how he “stormed in like he owns the place, throws his papers on the Pres desk and says, you don’t mind if I use your private bathroom, and walks into bathroom within Oval and uses it. Looks at me and says, I got to talk to him … It’s all abt him, period. No one else matters.”
Behind the scenes, concerns about the network’s election coverage were palpable. Pirro’s own producer, Jerry Andrews, warned her against making unsupported claims of election fraud, cautioning, “You should be very careful with this stuff and protect yourself given the ongoing calls for evidence that has not materialized.” When Fox News declined to air Pirro’s show on November 7, 2020—the day the election was called for Joe Biden—she texted Hannity, “I’M TIRED OF THE CENSORSHIP AND I’M EMBARRASSED BY HOW THEY CALLED THIS ELECTION.” Hannity responded, “Fox News promoting u every 5 seconds. It’s hilarious.”
The internal debate extended to other high-profile hosts. Jesse Watters, in a December 2020 message to Greg Gutfeld, speculated, “Think about how incredible our ratings would be if Fox went ALL in on STOP THE STEAL.” Yet, even as some at Fox saw opportunity in amplifying fraud claims, others—like a producer who told Watters, “you cannot, under any circumstances, cast doubt” on the election—pushed back, citing directives from network leadership. Bret Baier, another anchor, texted Fox executive Jay Wallace about Maria Bartiromo’s election coverage, stating, “None of that is true as far as we can tell. We need to fact-check this crap.”
These revelations come as Fox News continues to defend itself in the Smartmatic defamation suit, even after settling a similar case brought by Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million in 2023. Smartmatic alleges that Fox’s amplification of false claims decimated its U.S. business prospects, causing other jurisdictions to avoid working with the company. Fox, for its part, maintains it was simply reporting on newsworthy statements made by Trump and his allies.
But the legal drama doesn’t end there. On August 20, 2025, the Justice Department alleged in a court filing that three Smartmatic executives, indicted last year on bribery and money-laundering charges, had transferred money from a $282 million 2018 Los Angeles County voting machine contract into slush funds previously used to bribe election officials in Venezuela and the Philippines between 2012 and 2016. While prosecutors have not accused Smartmatic as a company of wrongdoing, they argue the funds were part of a longstanding pattern of corruption by certain executives.
At the center of the federal probe are Roger Alejandro Piñate Martinez Jr., Smartmatic’s president and co-founder; Jorge Vasquez, former vice-president of hardware development; and Elie Moreno, who oversaw contracts. All three were indicted in Florida last year and, according to The Guardian, are accused of conspiring with Jarltech International—a Taiwanese hardware maker—to overcharge foreign clients and funnel excess funds into bribery schemes. Piñate and Moreno were placed on administrative leave following the indictments, while Vasquez left the company in 2021.
The government’s court filing alleges that, in 2019, one of the executives transferred an undisclosed sum from the Los Angeles County contract into the slush funds. However, prosecutors have not stated whether any bribes were actually paid out from county money. Smartmatic’s contract with Los Angeles County, which runs through March 2027 with options to extend to 2033, uses fixed pricing with up to 10% allowable changes. County officials insist that all payments are validated against contract requirements, and the county has so far not debarred Smartmatic itself, only barring the indicted executives from further involvement.
Fox News has seized on the bribery allegations to bolster its defense in the defamation suit, filing its own lawsuit against Los Angeles County to obtain records about Smartmatic’s relationship with Dean Logan, the registrar-recorder and county clerk. Fox asserts that Logan may have received inappropriate gifts from Smartmatic, such as business-class travel and upscale restaurant meals, some of which were not reported on required disclosure forms. Logan maintains that the travel and meals were either not gifts or were properly reported, and that the contract was competitively bid and awarded in accordance with county procedures.
Smartmatic’s journey has been fraught with controversy since its founding in Florida in 1999. The company’s early foray into election technology began in Venezuela, where it won a lucrative contract in 2004 amid questions about its experience and political connections. Its subsequent expansion into the Philippines also triggered allegations of overcharging and unauthorized system changes, though some cases were later dismissed. Efforts to enter the U.S. market were stalled by a federal investigation in 2006, only to resume with its successful bid for the Los Angeles contract in 2018.
After the 2020 election, as Trump and his supporters falsely targeted Smartmatic and Dominion with claims of vote manipulation, Smartmatic responded with a series of defamation suits against media outlets and individuals, settling with Newsmax for $40 million and with One America News for an undisclosed sum. Yet, Fox News argues that the company’s business woes stem from its own troubled history and the recent indictments, not from Fox’s reporting.
Smartmatic has vigorously denied the latest allegations, with a spokesperson calling the Justice Department’s claims “filled with misrepresentations” and insisting the company operates “ethically” and abides “by all laws always, both in Los Angeles county and every jurisdiction where we operate.” The new allegations are not part of the formal charges against the executives, but prosecutors are seeking to introduce evidence about the LA County funds to demonstrate a broader pattern of misconduct.
As the lawsuits wind their way through the courts and new revelations continue to emerge, the story of Smartmatic, Fox News, and the 2020 election remains a potent symbol of the deep divisions and lingering mistrust that have come to define American democracy in the 21st century.