Newsmax reaches settlement with Smartmatic regarding 2020 election claims
(NEW YORK) — On the brink of trial, the cable news channel Newsmax on Thursday reached a settlement with voting machine company Smartmatic, bringing an end to a defamation lawsuit that accused the network of spreading multiple false claims surrounding the 2020 election.
Smartmatic had accused Newsmax of publishing dozens of false reports claiming that Smartmatic helped rig the 2020 election in favor of Joe Biden. Newsmax had argued, in part, that they were reporting on newsworthy claims of fraud.
“Newsmax is pleased to announce it has resolved the litigation brought by Smartmatic through a confidential settlement,” Newsmax said in a statement posted to their website.
Smartmatic did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
The news comes as jury selection was already underway in Delaware, according to a court official, with opening statement set to begin Monday.
The amount of the settlement was not immediately disclosed.
In a separate case last year, Dominion Voting Systems reached a $787 million settlement with Fox News in a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit that involved similar claims related to the election.
The Newsmax trial had been set to play out before the same judge that oversaw the Dominion case.
(NEW YORK) — Harvey Weinstein was rushed from Rikers Island, where he is being held, to Bellevue Hospital for emergency heart surgery after experiencing chest pains, his representatives told ABC News.
“Mr. Weinstein was rushed to Bellevue Hospital last night due to several medical conditions,” Weinstein representatives Craig Rothfeld and Juda Engelmayer said in a statement. “We can confirm that Mr. Weinstein had a procedure and surgery on his heart today however cannot comment any further than that.”
They continued, “As we have extensively stated before, Mr. Weinstein suffers a plethora of significant health issues that need ongoing treatment. We are grateful to the executive team at the New York City Department of Correction and Rikers Island for acting swiftly in taking him to Bellevue Hospital.”
The emergency comes as Weinstein, 72, is due in court this week in New York, where prosecutors had been presenting evidence to a grand jury as they work to secure a new indictment against Weinstein on sex crimes charges.
Weinstein has denied any wrongdoing and has said his sexual encounters with women were consensual.
Weinstein has appeared in court recently in a wheelchair and has asked to stay in custody at Rikers, where he has been undergoing medical care.
In a shocking move this April, the New York Court of Appeals, in a scathing 4-3 opinion, overturned Weinstein’s conviction on sex crimes against three women, finding the trial judge “erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes.”
The court said that testimony “served no material non-propensity purpose” and “portrayed defendant in a highly prejudicial light.”
However, the Manhattan district attorney’s office has since presented evidence to a grand jury that could return a new indictment against Weinstein over an alleged sexual assault that occurred sometime in a four-month time period between late 2005 and mid-2006 in a lower Manhattan residential building, according to a transcript of an unannounced court hearing last week.
Prosecutors also indicated during a hearing on Sept. 3 that they were aware of two other potential offenses: a sexual assault in May 2016 in a hotel in Tribeca and a potential sexual assault that occurred at the Tribeca Grand hotel.
This isn’t the first time Weinstein has been rushed to a hospital recently. In July, he was transferred to Bellevue after testing positive for COVID-19 and double pneumonia, according to his Rothfeld.
(WASHINGTON) — Cecilia sat in front of her computer repeatedly refreshing the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services webpage on Monday, waiting for the application for the Biden administration’s “Keeping Families Together” program to show up on her screen.
Minutes later, she clicked it open and submitted the form in less than 20 minutes.
A little more than 24 hours later, she got an e-mail sharing the news that she had been waiting 20 years to hear.
“I see that I got approved, and I’m like, oh that was quick,” she told ABC News in an interview. “I was lost for words…a whole bunch of emotions were going on.”
Cecilia, who asked ABC News not to disclose her full name so she can freely disclose her immigration status, is one of the first immigrants to receive parole in place, a temporary relief from deportation under a new program that allows undocumented spouses and stepchildren of United States citizens to apply for permanent legal residence without having to leave the country.
Noncitizen spouses are already eligible for legal status under current laws but often have to apply from their home countries and face up to a 10-year ban from returning to the U.S.
On June 18, President Joe Biden announced an executive action launching the program, calling it a “commonsense fix” to keep families together.
“This action is a better way. It doesn’t tear families apart, while requiring every undocumented spouse to fulfill their obligations under the law,” Biden said.
It’s estimated that half a million noncitizen spouses and 50,000 children could benefit from the program, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
In order to qualify for the program, applicants must be in the country unlawfully and pass background checks. They also have to prove they’ve lived in the country for at least a decade and must be married to a U.S. citizen on or before June 17, 2024.
Some noncitizen stepchildren under the age of 21 are also eligible.
Cecilia’s family brought her to the U.S. from Mexico when she was a 4-year-old, she told ABC News.
After unsuccessfully applying for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which continues to be paused pending a yearlong battle that could permanently end the program, she thought her dreams of finally being able to pursue a career as a chemist were over. For years, she said her parents worked to help her with paying out of state tuition because of her status.
In 2018, she met her future husband when he was studying biology at the same school.
“At the time I didn’t really tell him about my status, because I was like, what if he doesn’t like me because I’m not here legally,” she told ABC News.
However, she said her husband was overwhelmingly supportive of her despite her being undocumented. He has helped her get through school while raising their 3-year-old. He was working when she shared the news that her application was approved.
“He was like, ‘Are you not playing with me?'” she recalled. They went to celebrate as soon as he got home.
“We always try to celebrate little moments in our lives, even if they’re small, because we never know when one us might not be there and we try to be united as a family, she said.
Cecilia learned about the new policy from American Families United, a nonprofit organization that advocates for legal pathways to citizenship for foreign nationals married to U.S. citizens.
“Countless American families like Cecilia’s have endured years of uncertainty, holding onto the hope that one day they could live without fear,” said Ashley DeAzevedo, president of American Families United, in a statement. “We are encouraged to see the quick approval of Cecilia’s application—she is American in every way that counts. Now, she will have the opportunity to contribute even more to her family and this nation that she calls home.”
Cecilia believes that because she had already submitted biometrics and other information to USCIS as part of her DACA application, her case was expedited.
A USCIS official told ABC News that the agency may prioritize applicants who already have other pending applications and have submitted accurate biographic information.
Cecilia has already applied for her work permit and plans to apply for lawful permanent residence status as soon as she’s able to, finally putting the frustration of living in limbo as an undocumented immigrant in the past for good. Her dreams of owning a home, launching her career and raising her child with her husband seem within reach.
She’s urging other undocumented immigrants to remain hopeful.
“I feel like people should be more hopeful and that there are people advocating for them,” she said. “Everyone deserves an extra opportunity.”
(DETROIT) — A man in an “intimate relationship” with a Michigan neurosurgeon has been charged in the doctor’s slaying, authorities announced Wednesday.
Dr. Devon Hoover, 53, was found shot dead in his Detroit home on April 23, 2023, prosecutors said. He was shot twice in the head and his body was found in the third-floor attic crawl space, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said.
“He was only wearing socks. He was wrapped in a blood-soaked carpet,” Worthy said.
Police found the doctor when they responded to his home for a well-being check requested by the family after Hoover failed to show up to visit his dying mother in Indiana, Worthy said.
Cellphone analysis revealed Hoover had about 4,000 text messages with a man named Desmond Burks, with whom Hoover had an “intimate relationship,” Worthy said at a news conference Wednesday.
“On occasion, Desmond Burks would charge Dr. Hoover for these sexual services,” Worthy said.
The day of the murder, the doctor’s phone traveled from his home to the area of Burks’ home, then back to his own home, and then back again to the area of Burks’ home, Worthy said.
After the murder, Hoover’s phone, wallet and two designer watches worth $6,000 and $7,500 were missing from his home, and multiple fraudulent financial transactions were made from the doctor’s bank accounts, Worthy said. Hoover bought one of those watches one day before he was killed, she said.
“Physical evidence was discovered directly linking Dr. Hoover’s property to Desmond Burks on the date of the homicide,” Worthy said.
Burks, 34, faces charges including first-degree premeditated murder and possession of a firearm by a felon, Worthy said. He was also charged with larceny of over $20,000. Burks will be arraigned on Thursday, she said.
Burks also faces a second-degree murder charge in connection with an unrelated case — a deadly road range incident, Worthy said. In May, a man’s car bumped into the back of Burks’ car, and after a verbal altercation, Burks allegedly punched the man and left him lying in the street, she said.