Steve Bannon and Michal Flynn have been subpoenaed by voting software firm Smartmatic as part of its defamation lawsuits against Fox News and Newsmax for spreading lies about the 2020 election.
Smartmatic served the two Trump allies with orders to sit for interviews under oath that could happen as soon as this week, according to court filings in Delaware and New York seen by CNN.
Mr Bannon, a senior White House adviser during Donald Trump’s presidency, must also turn over documents related to Smartmatic’s lawsuit, including any communications he had about the 2020 presidential election with Fox News, the Trump re-election campaign and the Trump administration.
Smartmatic is suing Fox News for $2.7bn for spreading lies that it manipulated voting machines during the 2020 presidential election to flip votes in favour of President Joe Biden.
The weeks-long claims by Fox personalities and guests represented a “continuous stream of falsehoods that harmed Smartmatic and negatively impacted the company’s business,” it said.
Smartmatic is also suing Fox hosts Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs and Jeanine Pirro, and Mr Trump’s lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell.
Steve Bannon has been subpoenaed by Smartmatic over its $2.7bn defamation lawsuit against Fox News— (Associated Press)
The lawsuit bears strong parallels with the Dominion Voting Systems case against Fox, which resulted in a $787.5m settlement by the right-wing news network in April.
Mr Flynn, a former Trump administration national security adviser, and Mr Bannon played prominent roles in efforts by the former president to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Michael Flynn was a key adviser to the former president has he sought to overturn the 2020 election results— (AP)
Mr Flynn was fired by Mr Trump after he admitted lying to FBI agents about his contact with Russian officials before the 2016 election.
He later reversed his guilty plea, and was pardoned by Mr Trump after the Justice Department dropped the charges agains him.
Meanwhile, Mr Bannon is facing fraud charges in New York for allegedly stealing money for personal use from the We Build the Wall charity, a fundraising effort to build a border wall along the US-Mexico border.
According to Bob Woodward and Robert Costa’s 2021 book Peril, Mr Bannon was in regular contact with the former president between his election loss in November and the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol.
On Tuesday, Mr Trump revealed on his Truth Social website that he has received a “target letter” from special prosecutor Jack Smith for alleged offences related to the January 6 attack on the US Capitol and attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
