Smartmatic, the voting technology company suing Fox News and former President Donald Trump’s top allies over their false claims that its machines rigged the 2020 election, was implicated in an alleged bribery scheme involving the former top election official in the Philippines, according to court filings obtained by CNN.

The court documents indicate that the Justice Department has filed money laundering charges against former Filipino election administrator Andres Bautista – and that four executives from Smartmatic subsidiaries are implicated as uncharged co-conspirators.

The bribery claims are sure to reverberate in Smartmatic’s ongoing defamation cases. Trump allies repeatedly peddled the lie that the company manipulated the results in 2020, despite the fact that its machines were only used in one California county that year.

[Interesting, to be sure. I’m not certain that it would be relevant to the defamation cases, at least in the trial, although it certainly might dent any potential award a jury could be inclined to give if Smartmatic prevails. — Ed]