Trump DOJ prosecuted election tech firm to fuel 2020 election lies, filing alleges

The voting technology company Smartmatic accused federal prosecutors of weaponizing the Justice Department against it to promote President Donald Trump’s 2020 election lies and aid his allies facing massive defamation lawsuits.

Smartmatic’s parent company — SGO Corporation Limited — filed a motion Tuesday asking a federal court to dismiss a criminal indictment against it, alleging the Trump DOJ launched a politically motivated prosecution designed to promote election denial and punish the company for defending the integrity of the 2020 election.

The filing claims the DOJ indicted the company in 2025 after previously deciding not to charge it in 2024. According to the motion, that reversal came only after Trump returned to power and then intensified his campaign to promote the lie that the 2020 election was stolen.

“Since returning to office, President Trump has openly waged a campaign of retribution against his perceived enemies — chief among them those who undermine his mantra that the 2020 election was rigged — and demanded the Department of Justice take up the sword,” the filing reads. “SGO Corporation Limited is among the latest victims of this punitive and unconstitutional use of prosecutorial power.”

The case stems from a long-running federal investigation into alleged bribery tied to Smartmatic’s work in the 2016 Philippine election. In August 2024, federal prosecutors charged several individuals connected to the company but did not indict the corporate parent itself.

But in October 2025 — months after Trump returned to office — prosecutors filed a superseding indictment charging SGO with violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a federal law that prohibits bribery of foreign officials.

The company now argues the sudden decision to prosecute it had nothing to do with new evidence and everything to do with Trump’s political agenda.

“Smartmatic USA is an election technology and services company that the President’s allies and media defenders, including Fox News, have repeatedly and falsely claimed was somehow responsible for him losing the 2020 U.S. presidential election,” the filing adds. “As a result, in the years since that election, Smartmatic USA has exercised its right to hold those individuals and entities legally accountable for their deluge of defamatory statements and the attendant damage inflicted on its business, putting it squarely in the crosshairs for retribution.”

Smartmatic has filed multiple defamation lawsuits against Trump allies and media organizations that amplified debunked election conspiracy theories — including Fox News, Newsmax, Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.

In its new motion, the company claims the criminal indictment effectively helps those defendants by reinforcing the narrative that voting technology companies were involved in election wrongdoing.

“SGO is being prosecuted because the President has claimed the 2020 election was rigged, his political and media allies falsely identified Smartmatic as one of the companies involved in rigging that election, and Smartmatic exercised its rights to litigate the falsity of that claim against the staunchest of the President’s allies,” the filing continues. “The prosecution of SGO furthers their collective false narrative that President Trump did not actually lose the 2020 election and provides perceived defenses and delay excuses for his allies in their defamation cases.”

The motion asks the court to dismiss the indictment entirely. If the court declines to do so, Smartmatic is asking for discovery and a hearing into whether political pressure from the White House influenced the decision to prosecute.

The company argues the circumstances surrounding the indictment — including the timing of the charges and public statements from Trump and his allies about targeting companies tied to the 2020 election — strongly suggest retaliation for its legal challenges.

“The relentless attacks by the President and his allies concerning the 2020 election — and Smartmatic’s subsequent defamation lawsuits against members of the President’s inner circle and primary media ally Fox News — suggest a discriminatory purpose,” the filing concludes. “Put simply, the charging decision is consistent with an Administration that prioritizes targeting its enemies over the equal protection of the law.”

Trump has continued to push baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him, and his administration has launched new investigations targeting election offices.

In January, FBI agents raided a Fulton County, Georgia election facility and seized ballots, tabulator tapes and other materials from 2020. And just this week, federal officials sought records tied to the controversial Republican-led audit of ballots in Maricopa County, Arizona, expanding Trump’s probe into the 2020 election.