Yesterday we saw some sudden signs that Fox News and Dominion were discussing a settlement. A few moments ago, Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis announced, “the parties have resolved their case.” This is likely to be an expensive settlement for Fox News that avoids the potential of an even more expensive judgment, entirely separate from the cost to Fox News’ reputation from all the emails and text messages released in the discovery process.

Paul Clement, the lawyer representing Fox News in the Dominion and Smartmatic lawsuits, told me last month he did not think that a settlement was likely, because of the First Amendment issues at stake. But after the summary judgment portion of the case went terribly for Fox News, that calculation clearly changed.