Washington —
The Justice Department on Thursday filed foreign bribery charges against Smartmatic, the voting technology company that is suing Fox News and other prominent pro-Trump figures for defamation over their promotion of 2020 election lies.
The bribery and money laundering charges against Smartmatic arose from an existing case filed last year against some of its current and former executives, including its founder.
The indictment relates to an alleged $1 million bribe paid to the top election official in the Philippines to secure lucrative contracts for that country’s 2016 elections. The indictment doesn’t include