On Sunday, the judge delayed Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion defamation trial against Fox by a day, with a source indicating the media giant was negotiating a settlement.

Fox was pursuing a settlement, the unnamed source told Reuters. However, according to insiders, Fox was also negotiating a deal.

Dominion is suing Fox Corp (FOXA.O) and Fox News for defamation over their 2020 presidential election coverage.

“The Court has decided to continue the start of the trial, including jury selection, until Tuesday, April 18, 2023 at 9:00 a.m. (1300 GMT),” Judge Eric Davis stated in a statement without reason.

“I will make such an announcement tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. in Courtroom 7E,” he continued.

On Thursday, Davis expects to finish jury selection on Monday and begin opening statements.

Fox and Dominion declined to comment on the postponement.

After Fox kept records until the trial, Davis sanctioned Fox News on Wednesday, giving Dominion another time to obtain evidence.

In pre-taped Fox appearances, former U.S. President Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani said he had no evidence to support Dominion’s 2020 election rigging claims, which are at the center of the case.

A Fox employee suing the network recorded the tapes.

Davis said he would likely hire an outside investigator to investigate Fox’s late data revelation and fix the disturbing situation.

Fox stated Wednesday that it “produced the supplemental information” to Dominion “when we first learned it.”
One of the most carefully followed U.S. defamation trials in years involves a large television news channel with many conservative contributors.

Fox executives and hosts like Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Jeanine Pirro will testify alongside Murdoch.

The trial will determine if Fox violated the boundary between ethical journalism and ratings, as Dominion claims and Fox disputes.

Dominion has charged Fox of harming its reputation by publicizing unfounded claims that its computers secretly manipulated votes in favor of Democrat Joe Biden, who defeated Republican President Trump in 2020.

Based on weak economic modeling, Fox calls Dominion’s $1.6 billion damage claim ridiculous.

According to a sealed expert study, Fox’s coverage cost Dominion dozens of contracts.

Fox Corp earned $14 billion last year.

Fox called Dominion’s lawsuit a threat to press freedom on Friday, while Dominion said Fox’s actions damaged American democracy and must be held accountable.

“While Dominion has pushed irrelevant and misleading information to generate headlines, Fox News remains steadfast in protecting the rights of a free press,” Fox added.

Dominion must prove “actual malice” in a defamation case by proving Fox willfully published misleading information or recklessly disregarded the truth.

“Sunday Morning Futures,” “Lou Dobbs Tonight,” and “Justice with Judge Jeanine” aired defamatory statements, according to Dominion.

Dominion claims that Fox officials, from newsroom to board, knew the remarks were untrue but kept airing them to avoid losing viewers to far-right outlets.

Dominion also claims that some presenters and producers believed the guests making bogus claims, including former Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, could not prove their claims.

Fox maintained the vote-rigging charges was newsworthy and protected by the First Amendment.

Last month, Davis denied both sides’ summary judgment motions.

Fox further claims that Dominion cannot prove defamatory malice.

Fox claims Dominion must prove a “superior officer” at the network or its parent business “ordered, participated in, or ratified” wrongdoing. The network maintains that individual doubts regarding claims cannot be attributed to the organization.