Fox News and Dominion Trial Delayed To Tuesday

The Delaware judge overseeing a voting machine company’s $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News announced late Sunday that he was delaying the start of the highly anticipated trial until Tuesday.  No specific reason was given for the one day delay to the start. In a statement provided by a public information officer on Sunday night, Judge Eric M. Davis of Delaware Superior Court said only that he would make an announcement on Monday morning delaying proceedings by 24 hours.

The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday, attributing to unnamed sources, that attorneys for Fox News were making a late push to settle the high-profile case. 

Six years ago, a closely watched defamation case against ABC News made it to trial but was settled before jurors had a chance to weigh in. Network parent Walt Disney Co. paid an undisclosed amount to resolve defamation claims by Beef Products Inc. over a 2012 series of stories the network aired about its processed-meat product, which critics had called “pink slime.”

A Disney financial disclosure suggested the company paid at least $177 million to end the case. according to WSJ.

The courtroom showdown between Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems is being called the media trial of the 21st century and that’s not an exaggeration, reports The L-A Times.

In one corner, the Rupert Murdoch-owned conservative cable network that has a powerful and often polarizing influence on political discourse in the U.S., irritating liberals and providing sustenance to Donald Trump’s supporters.

Across the ring is the Denver-based voting equipment maker, which says Fox News damaged its reputation to the tune of $1.6 billion dollars when guests and hosts on the network falsely said the company was a central player in rigging the 2020 election for President Biden, a myth promoted by the Trump camp.

Dominion is arguing the network perpetuated Trump’s lies through his attorney Sidney Powell and adviser Rudy Giuliani in order to keep its unhappy viewers from fleeing to upstart conservative channel Newsmax.

Opening arguments begin Tuesday in Delaware Superior Court — a development that is stunning in itself as legal experts noted that such defamation cases rarely go to trial.

If sports books offered a line on a settlement, most lawyers would have bet it would be done before evidence was gathered for discovery. As a result, the dishy internal communications by Fox News talent and executives have been sprayed out by the press like candy from a piñata.

“I’m very surprised it didn’t settle before discovery and before Fox had to produce all of this stuff that garnered all this publicity,” said Lee Levine, a veteran 1st Amendment attorney.

A rough week for Fox in Dominion lawsuit: Judge knocks down some of its key defenses, sanctions the network and suggests an investigation–but also bars mention of Jan. 6. Fox says the case could do grave damage to all news organizations. Trial starts tom'w https://t.co/acQzT4xwtE

— HowardKurtz (@HowardKurtz) April 16, 2023

Texts, emails and deposition testimony provided a glimpse into the inner workings of Fox News, showing how executives and hosts tried to balance their own disbelief of Trump’s allegations with their perceived need to mollify his supporters who habitually watch the network.