Smartmatic says Trump's 'campaign of retribution' is driving criminal prosecution
Source: Associated Press
Smartmatic says Trump’s ‘campaign of retribution’ is driving criminal prosecution
By JOSHUA GOODMAN
Updated 8:45 PM EDT, March 10, 2026
MIAMI (AP) — Voting technology firm Smartmatic is seeking to dismiss a criminal indictment for money laundering, blaming President Donald Trump and his allies for seeking its prosecution as part of a “campaign of retribution” against those they blame for his 2020 election loss.
Smartmatic’s parent company, UK-based SGO Corporation, was added to a criminal indictment last fall previously charging several executives with paying $1 million in bribes to election officials in the Philippines.
In a motion to dismiss the indictment filed Tuesday, attorneys for Smartmatic said the company had been cooperating with the Justice Department since it first learned of its investigation in 2021, including by producing millions of pages of documents and making presentations to federal agents. A trial date for the executives, including co-founder Roger Pinate, had been set and the company believed that it was in the clear.
But when Trump returned to the White House, the Justice Department reversed course and decided to press charges against Smartmatic. Attorneys for the company said the decision was prompted by Trump’s demands to prosecute his perceived enemies and his “mantra” that Smartmatic helped rig the 2020 U.S. presidential election won by Joe Biden — allegations that are at the heart of a $2.7 billion lawsuit filed by Smartmatic against the president’s allies in the media.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/miami-smartmatic-trump-money-laundering-elections-2997ffb68b341dd3890f4f3b29fbbcce