Fox News-Dominion libel case set to begin after brief delay

WILMINGTON, Del. — The Delaware judge overseeing a voting machine company’s $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News delayed the opening of the trial Monday, raising the prospect that the two sides might attempt to settle before the eagerly watched case goes before a jury.

Superior Court Judge Eric Davis suggested the sides try to mediate their dispute, according to a person close to Fox who was not authorized to speak publicly about the status of the lawsuit. Attorneys for both sides who appeared in court Monday declined to answer reporters’ questions about why it was put off, as did representatives for both companies.

Davis gave no explanation for postponing the trial’s start until Tuesday, although he did note that delays are common and built into the schedule. Jury selection and opening statements were planned for the first day in a trial that, if it happens, is expected to last six weeks.

“This is not a press conference,” Davis said during Monday’s brief hearing. “I don’t do that.”

A trial would force Fox to answer for its actions in the weeks after the 2020 presidential election and litigate denial about the outcome of the race in general. The case centers on whether Fox defamed Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems by spreading false claims that the company rigged the election against then-President Donald Trump.

A settlement is certainly a possibility in a trial that carries risks for both sides. Fox already has been embarrassed by revelations that some of its executives and on-air personalities did not believe fraud claims that the network spread on the air, and it doesn’t want to see 92-year-old founder Rupert Murdoch testify.