The trial for Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against Fox News has been delayed one day, and now is set to begin Tuesday.
Judge Eric M. Davis of the Delaware Superior Court was expected to announce a 24-hour delay on Monday.
The court did not cite a reason for the delay late Sunday, but attorneys are expected to convene for last-minute talks on a settlement to avoid a potentially embarrassing trial for the cable news network, according to The Washington Post, which cited two people familiar with the situation.
Dominion filed a $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox alleging that the network defamed the company by allowing guests and hosts to make baseless claims about the 2020 election, including purported ties between Dominion and late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and the notion its machines were rigged to switch votes from Donald Trump to Joseph R. Biden.
The trial is expected to last weeks and could feature testimony from chief executive Rupert Murdoch and hosts such as Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity.
Interest in the trial, which is set to begin once the jury is empaneled Tuesday, is sky-high in part because of damaging text messages and other revelations that showed Fox hosts seemed to be aware that Mr. Trump’s election-fraud claims were bogus but they feared disappointing their audience.
However, high-profile plaintiffs who sue over libel claims face a high bar and need to prove that alleged defamers acted with “actual malice” in making false claims.
Mr. Trump is urging Fox News to stand by claims of 2020 election fraud.
“If Fox would finally admit that there was large scale cheating & irregularities in the 2020 presidential election, which would be a good thing for them, & for America, the case against them, which should not have existed at all, would be greatly weakened. Back up those patriots at Fox instead of throwing them under the bus — & they are right!” Mr. Trump wrote Monday in all caps on Truth Social, his social media platform.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.