America
CNN: Smartmatic Implicated in Bribery Scheme
Voting firm linked to $4 million payments to Philippines oficial, says U.S. court filing.
A BY ERIC MACK
voting technology com- pany at the center of legal action against former Pres- ident Donald Trump’s law-
yers and others over the 2020 presi- dential election reportedly finds itself implicated in a bribery scheme with a top Filipino election official. In October, the Justice Depart-
ment filed money-laundering charges against former Philippines election administrator Andres Bautista in a case involving four executives from subsidiaries of Smartmatic, CNN reported, citing a U.S. Southern Dis- trict of Florida court filing. Bautista denied receiving bribes
from Smartmatic in a social media statement. “I am surprised to learn about a complaint filed against me,” he posted on X on Nov. 2 after the filing. “I have never been contacted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security about it for comment. “But let me be very clear. I did not
ask for nor receive any bribe money from Smartmatic or any other entity.” Samira Saba, Smartmatic head of communications, denied wrongdoing. “Smartmatic has never won a proj-
ect through any illegal means,” a state- ment read. “Smartmatic has been in the Philippines since 2008. “In every bidding process and pro- curement procedure, Smartmatic has adhered to Philippine procurement law and the strict controls that the Philippine Commission on Elections (Comelec) imposes. “Winning a bid in the Philippines
is never solely one individual’s pref- erence or decision. Instead, multiple
26 NEWSMAX | DECEMBER 2023
technical evaluations are conducted by committees, ensuring that the bidders comply with all the requirements speci- fied in the Terms of Reference (TOR). “All of these assessments are then
presented to a Bids and Awards Com- mittee. It then recommends to Comelec En Banc, acting as a collegial body, to ultimately decide the successful bidder. “Dozens of Comelec officials have
a say in selecting the provider. Over the years Smartmatic has both won and lost bids in the Philippines. It is important to note that this is not related to Smartmatic election secu- rity or integrity. Smartmatic always has and always will cooperate with authorities.” Alleging defamation, Smartmatic is
suing Newsmax, Fox News, OAN, sev- eral individual Fox hosts, former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, former Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell, MyPil- low CEO Mike Lindell, and others. All have denied wrongdoing.
B
autista awarded Smartmatic a $199 million contract to supply
the Philippines with 94,000 voting machines for the 2016 presidential election won by Rodrigo Duterte, according to CNN. Unidentified executives are reported-
ly implicated as uncharged co-conspira- tors alleged to have “caused or attempt- ed” to transfer $4 million to Bautista “in violation of U.S. money laundering laws,” the filing, viewed by CNN, alleges. According to the Justice Depart-
ment filing, Smartmatic executives allegedly used “slush funds,” “fake con- tracts,” and fake email accounts to take in bribes under the code word “salsa.” Florida-based Smartmatic has said
its voting product was used in only one California county, Los Angeles, dur- ing the 2020 election. Smartmatic has long had ties with
the regime of Venezuelan strongmen Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro, han- dling the country’s presidential and con- gressional elections for over a decade. After the 2020 election, Trump and
his surrogates accused another voting company, Dominion Voting Systems, of having “rigged” the results and manipulated the software. The Trump team alleged a tenuous connection between Dominion and Smartmatic, noting that Smartmatic had once owned Sequoia, a U.S. vot- ing machine company. Dominion acquired Sequoia in 2010. Newsmax has denied the defama-
tion allegations of Smartmatic, claim- ing its lawsuit is an attack on a free press and Newsmax’s right to report on what major officials and other pub- lic officials are stating publicly. In December 2020, Newsmax issued
a statement on its coverage of the 2020 election, making clear that the net- work had “no evidence Dominion uses Smartmatic’s software or vice versa.” The statement also added that Newsmax found that “no evidence has been offered that Dominion or Smartmatic used software or repro- grammed software that manipulated votes in the 2020 election.” Smartmatic was not accused in the
criminal complaint of having tam- pered with elections in the Philippines or elsewhere, according to CNN. Dominion Voting Systems has
also filed suit for defamation against Newsmax, Fox News, Giuliani, and other defendants. In April, Fox settled with Domin-
ion for $787 million. Dominion’s liti- gation with Newsmax and others con- tinues in several courts.
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