A New York State appeals court has ruled that Fox News can access certain internal records from Smartmatic related to a U.S. criminal corruption investigation, as part of Fox's defense in the ongoing defamation lawsuit filed by the voting technology company. The lawsuit seeks $2.7 billion in damages and alleges Fox News knowingly aired false claims about Smartmatic's involvement in rigging the 2020 U.S. presidential election. The court's decision allows Fox to review documents concerning a 2024 federal bribery indictment against several Smartmatic executives. The indictment alleges that Smartmatic officials paid over $1 million in bribes to secure contracts for voting machines and election services in the Philippines' 2016 election. Smartmatic has denied any wrongdoing, and the indicted executives have pleaded not guilty. Fox News argues that the materials from the bribery case are relevant to its defense, contending that Smartmatic's reputation and business were already damaged by its foreign dealings prior to the 2020 election coverage. Smartmatic maintains that Fox's reporting was the primary cause of its alleged damages. Separately, Smartmatic has accused Fox News and senior executives, including Rupert Murdoch, of intentionally destroying evidence, specifically text messages from November and December 2020, which Smartmatic claims would have shown what Fox executives knew about the falsity of the broadcasts. Smartmatic also alleges that its CEO issued instructions to delete relevant text messages before filing the lawsuit. Fox denies the allegations, stating that the issues were previously resolved and have no bearing on the merits of the case. The court has ordered Smartmatic to provide Fox with internal documents regarding the impact of the bribery indictment on its business, as Fox seeks to challenge Smartmatic's claims of reputational harm and lost profits. The litigation remains ongoing, with no trial date set.