Filing: Smartmatic Gave Unlawful Gifts To LA Official Who Helped Obtain Voting Firm’s ‘Lucrative Contract’

 Fox News also claims, ‘it now seems irrefutable’ that Smartmatic executives ‘have funneled taxpayer dollars from Smartmatic’s L.A. County 2020 election contract to a “slush fund.”‘

It now seems irrefutable that” voting technology company Smartmatic gave unlawful gifts to the Los Angeles County official who helped obtain the firm’s “lucrative contract” with the county, a new filing by Fox News alleges. Fox also argues a recent filing from the DOJ indicates that executives at Smartmatic, which is currently involved in a defamation lawsuit against Fox News over the latter’s reporting on the 2020 election, “funneled” L.A. County tax dollars to a “slush fund.”

Fox News is seeking “public records relating to the relationship between certain L.A. County officials and the election systems company Smartmatic,” according to a recent filing. The company also seeks information pertaining to the process by which Smartmatic was awarded a contract that permitted them to “build voting equipment for” and run the Los Angeles’ state, federal, and local elections.

“Since Fox News filed its original petition, subsequent productions by L.A. County and recent U.S. Department of Justice … filings have revealed stark indications that Smartmatic’s most senior executives engaged in some of the same patterns of misconduct in Smartmatic’s contracting with L.A. County as they have been accused of elsewhere,” the filing reads.

Fox’s “amended petition” asks the California Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles to direct the county, the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (collectively referred to as the “County”) to comply with California public records law.

Fox News states that it previously uncovered evidence showing Smartmatic provided Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder and Clerk Dean Logan with “business class travel, expensive entertainment, and other personal benefits” that Logan “had not disclosed as required by law.” County documents later revealed, as described in Fox News’ filing, “Mr. Logan cultivated unusually close relationships with Smartmatic executives through frequent communication, dinners, and other social gatherings, several of which included a spouse and/or partner.”

But, as Fox News alleges, the county still produced “incomplete” records and “omitted many responsive documents.” Fox News suggests that “much of this underproduction” occurred because “the county is reliant” on Logan “to provide the responsive records.”

“For example, Fox News has identified large gaps in text messages between Mr. Logan and Smartmatic officials. In one such instance, the County produced zero text messages between Mr. Logan and a Smartmatic official from June 2021 to June 2022, despite years of regular communication between the two before and after the omitted time period, and during which time Mr. Logan executed a significant contract with Smartmatic on behalf of the County and continued to oversee Smartmatic’s performance,” the filing alleges.

According to the filing, the county says “additional documents do not exist.” However, Fox News “believes” that Logan has “withheld” the communications and other records “perhaps at the urging of Smartmatic executives.” Fox News notes that filings from the federal government and sworn statements “show that on multiple occasions … key Smartmatic leaders have instructed its employees and third parties to delete incriminating documents and important communications.”

In a statement to The Federalist, Logan said that “The contract between Los Angeles County and Smartmatic USA was competitively bid, evaluated, and awarded in compliance with the County’s open competitive public procurement processes, and the contract is a fee-for-service contract with fixed pricing.” He also claimed that “The County has worked for months to be responsive to the records requests made by FOX News and continues to do so,” noting that “the voluminous records attached to the amended filing … refute the salacious allegations included.”

Fox News also claims, in part that “it now seems irrefutable” that Smartmatic executives “have funneled taxpayer dollars from Smartmatic’s L.A. County 2020 election contract to a ‘slush fund’ held by a ‘shell company’ that they used in the same pattern of misconduct that is the subject of federal indictments for bribery in obtaining and maintaining Smartmatic’s contracts in the Philippines.”

According to Fox, an Aug. 1 filing by the Department of Justice shows that prosecutors going after Smartmatic executives “for their alleged bribery in obtaining and maintaining a Philippines voting contract” have records, testimony, and communications “proving that Smartmatic funneled L.A. County taxpayer dollars to this ‘slush fund.'” Prosecutors say the Smartmatic executives’ “misconduct associated with the L.A. Taxpayer money” could prove “intent” in their Philippines case, according to Fox News’ filing.

As stated in Fox News’ filing, “the federal government alleges the very Smartmatic executives involved in winning the L.A. County contract used similar methods to bribe officials in other jurisdictions in order to obtain and maintain key contracts.”

Notably, Fox News states it “does not yet have evidence that slush fund payments … were made to any L.A. County official” but that it does have “a slew of examples” of Smartmatic providing Logan with “benefits,” “many” of which Logan allegedly did not disclose “as the law required him to do.”

In a statement to The Federalist, Logan claimed: “The alleged actions in the federal matter are unrelated to the work performed under contract by Smartmatic for Los Angeles County. The County has no knowledge or visibility into how Smartmatic USA used proceeds from that contract; however, the County does validate work performed and deliverable requirements aligned to the fixed price structure of the contract prior to making any payments.”

Smartmatic denied the accusations in a statement to The Federalist:

“Fox lies, and when caught, they lie again to distract. Fox’s latest filing is just another attempt to divert attention from its long-standing campaign of falsehoods and defamation against Smartmatic. Let us be clear: Smartmatic wins business because we’re the best at what we do. We operate ethically and abide by all laws always, both in Los Angeles County and every jurisdiction where we operate.”

As The Federalist reported, Smartmatic co-founder Roger Piñate currently faces charges in Miami for alleged money laundering and bribery related to Philippine contracts. Jorge Vásquez, an executive at the company, was also included in the August 2024 indictment made by a grand jury over allegations of participation in a “bribery and money laundering scheme.”

https://thefederalist.com/2025/08/12/filing-smartmatic-gave-unlawful-gifts-to-la-official-who-helped-obtain-voting-firms-lucrative-contract/