In his ruling Thursday, Davis granted parts of both sides’ motions, denying other parts. He agreed with Newsmax that not all of the allegedly defamatory statements had been proven false, allowing it to dispute falsity at trial. He also said there was no evidence that Newsmax was acting with intent to harm Smartmatic with its coverage.

But in wins for Smartmatic, he ruled firmly that the rigged election claims were definitely false, published by Newsmax and specific to Smartmatic.