A Delaware judge delayed the start of the widely anticipated trial on a voting-machine company’s defamation claims against Fox News, an announcement that came as the network is looking for a possible way to settle the case.
Superior Court Judge Eric Davis said late Sunday that he was delaying the start of the trial by one day, moving it from Monday to Tuesday. He didn’t explain the reasons for the move.
Judge Davis took the bench Monday morning to address the delay but provided no new details, saying the brief postponement wasn’t unusual. “This is not a press conference,” he said.
Fox has made a late push to settle the dispute with Dominion Voting Systems out of court, people familiar with the situation said Sunday.
Dominion has been seeking $1.6 billion in damages but appears to have softened its claims. An April 14 email from Dominion to Fox, attached to a new Fox legal filing on Sunday, indicated that Dominion wouldn’t present a jury with claims for alleged lost profits. In its original 2021 lawsuit, Dominion sought lost-profits damages of not less than $600 million.
Dominion had no immediate comment on the Fox filing. Both sides declined to comment on the judge’s delay.