The $2.7 Billion Case Against Fox News

“The Earth is round. Two plus two equals four. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the 2020 election for president and vice president of the United States.” So begins the 280-page complaint filed by Smartmatic, an election software company, against the Fox Corporation.Smartmatic accuses the network of doing irreparable damage to the company’s business by allowing election conspiracy theorists to use Fox News as a megaphone for misinformation.Today, we hear from Antonio Mugica, Smartmatic’s C.E.O., and the lawyer Erik Connelly about the $2.7 billion case.Guest: Ben Smith, the media columnist for The New York Times. For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. You can read the latest edition here.Background reading: In the latest volley in the dispute over disinformation in the presidential election, Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Corporation has been sued by Smartmatic, which accuses his cable networks of defamation and contributing to the fervor that led to the siege of the Capitol.In December, Ben Smith spoke with Mr. Mugica and Mr. Connelly about the claims being made against Smartmatic. Read the interview here.  For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.  Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.