On the same day a Delaware judge ruled that MAGA cable channel Newsmax had made false and defamatory statements about Dominion Voting Systems following the 2020 election, President Donald Trump signed an executive order targeting the law firm representing the voting software company.
Having already helped Dominion grab a landmark $787.5m settlement from Fox News over its election lies, Susman Godfrey is just the latest firm singled out for punishment by the president for assisting or employing Trump’s political rivals.
In an executive order Trump signed at the Oval Office on Wednesday, the president is seeking to revoke the security clearances of the firm’s attorneys, slash federal contracts and limit their access to government buildings, making it extremely difficult for the agency to represent clients with any claims or business with the federal government.
During his signing ceremony, Trump told reporters, “There were some very bad things that happened with these law firms.” The president also boasted about law agencies capitulating in the face of his executive orders.
“We signed with many law firms, the ones that we thought were inappropriate, and they’ve all agreed to pay... We have another five to go,” Trump declared while senior adviser Stephen Miller claimed that the administration was close to reaching a billion dollars in pro bono services from the targeted law firms.
“This firm is very involved in the election misconduct,” Miller added about Susman Godfrey.
Besides Susman Godfrey, Trump has sought to punish five other law firms with executive orders: Covington & Burling, Perkins Coie, Paul Weiss, Jenner & Block, and WilmerHale. While three of those agencies have chosen to fight and successfully obtained court orders blocking the president’s actions, other firms have caved and reached widely criticized agreements with the administration.
Paul Weiss, for instance, committed $40m in pro bono legal services to make the president’s executive order go away. Three other firms — Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; Milbank LLP; and Willkie Farr & Gallagher — have reached pre-emptive deals with the administration in the hope of avoiding punishment.
Susman Godfrey, which recently signed an amicus brief in support of Perkins Coie’s challenge, indicated that it would fight the president’s order. “Anyone who knows Susman Godfrey knows we believe in the rule of law, and we take seriously our duty to uphold it. This principle guides us now. There is no question that we will fight this unconstitutional order,” the firm said in a statement.
The timing of Trump’s memo targeting Susman Godfrey is curious as it coincided with Judge Eric M. Davis handing down several devastating pretrial rulings to Newsmax ahead of this month’s trial with Dominion, which is seeking $1.6bn in damages in its defamation suit against the right-wing network.
In his Wednesday night ruling, Davis stated that the voting machine company had presented “clear and convincing evidence” showing Newsmax had broadcast false information that “would likely cause reasonable viewers to think significantly less favorably about Dominion than if the viewers knew the truth.” Some of the most outlandish claims aired by Newsmax included outrageous conspiracy theories that the company was tied to the late Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez and flipped millions of votes from Donald Trump to Joe Biden.
He further noted that Newsmax’s on-air segments acknowledging the bogus claims in December 2020 showed that it was aware of the “falsity” of the election segments it aired. Additionally, Davis — much as he did in the Fox News case that eventually resulted in a massive settlement for Dominion — noted that the segments aired by Newsmax were not presented as “pure opinion” from its hosts and commentators, lessening the First Amendment protection for the network.
Still, as Davis granted Dominion the bulk of its motion for a summary judgment, he said it would be up to a jury to decide if the conservative channel intentionally acted with “actual malice” in broadcasting the smear against the firm.
“Newsmax covered both sides of the 2020 election dispute fairly,” a Newsmax spokesperson said in a statement. “At no time did it defame Dominion. This case represents a serious threat to free speech and a free press, and Newsmax will defend itself vigorously at trial.”
A Dominion spokesperson said: “We are gratified by the court’s thorough ruling.”
The possibility of a settlement before the case reaches trial on April 28 remains high, especially in light of Davis’s ruling. Newsmax settled a similar case with Smartmatic last fall for $40m, which it has to pay in full by June 30. Smartmatic also has a “five-year cash exercise warrant” to purchase 2,000 shares of preferred stock in Newsmax.
The past few weeks have been a dizzying ride for Newsmax, and not just with a highly expensive lawsuit hanging over its head. Just last week, the network publicly launched on the stock exchange and soon entered “meme stock” territory. Despite its less-than-stellar financial fundamentals, Newsmax soon saw its share prices soar to over $250, making the company briefly more valuable than Fox Corporation and other major media conglomerates.
Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy, who was sitting in the Delaware court room last month while Dominion’s lawyers accused him of being personally liable for defamation, was for a time added to the billionaire class based on his holdings in the network.
While Newsmax stock prices have since plummeted back down to $34 a share as of Thursday morning, the network’s valuation is still over $4bn and Ruddy has since been able to leverage the channel to strike a deal with investors. On Monday, Newsmax announced that it had reached a standy equity purchase agreement with Yorkville Advisors for up to $1.2bn.
“While we are under no obligation to draw on the full amount, this action allows us to maintain a strong balance sheet while adding liquidity to our shares over time,” Ruddy said about the deal. “The new access to capital will also provide our team with the flexibility to respond to new opportunities and challenges in an efficient manner as we continue to grow Newsmax as the media landscape evolves.”
Ruddy has also made it known that he has spoken to the president several times in recent weeks about Newsmax’s initial public offering, which saw him and his network’s hosts and pundits ring the opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange — on the day the market had its worst day since the pandemic.
A spokesperson for Susman Godfrey did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the timing of the Newsmax ruling and Trump’s executive order targeting the firm.
House passes budget framework in tense vote after Johnson wins over conservatives
Four House Democrats join Republicans to pass SAVE Act
Trump plans to fix showerheads and dishwashers so everything gets more clean
The Republican plan to silence millions of voters
Fund managers worry about Trump’s mental state amid tariff debacle
White House refuses to distribute press pool reports that contain ‘inconvenient’ info
