Fox's effort came after a New York appeals court rejected its bid to dismiss the suit in January. In court documents obtained and reviewed by TheWrap, its strategy in pursuing a summary judgment — which calls on Judge David Cohen to decide the case without a full trial — is highlighting the ways in which Smartmatic differs from the Dominion voting systems company.

The cable network said in a court filing it was fairly reporting on a news event, while the voting-machine company said Fox aired false information to boost ratings.