The trial for the $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News and its parent company is now set to begin Tuesday.
The original start time was 9 a.m. Monday, but Superior Court Judge Eric Davis announced late Sunday night that the trial was being briefly delayed. The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, which is owned by Fox Chairman Rupert Murdoch, reported Sunday night that settlement talks will be ongoing on Monday.
The parties can settle anytime before or during the trial.
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In the courtroom Monday morning, only a few attorneys for Dominion Voting Systems and Fox were present in person. Davis kept his comments brief, saying it was normal for longer trials to be delayed. The plan, he said, is to begin with the final stages of jury selection on Tuesday morning.
The judge did not elaborate more on what caused the delay.
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“This is not a press conference,” Davis said. “I don’t do that.”
Dominion filed a lawsuit against Fox in 2021 after the cable news network aired false claims that the company helped steal the 2020 presidential election. Dominion alleges Fox knowingly spread these falsities to appeal to its conservative audience after it called the Arizona race for Joe Biden on election night.
Fox has denied all wrongdoing, saying its hosts were covering the most important news story of the day. Fox News, in a statement, described the lawsuit as a “political crusade in search of a financial windfall.”
