In a statement provided by a public information officer on Sunday night, Judge Eric M. Davis of Delaware Superior Court said only that he would make an announcement on Monday morning delaying proceedings by 24 hours. But two people familiar with the case said the two sides are scheduled to meet Monday to determine if a last-minute deal to avoid trial could be brokered. One of the people said the judge had asked the parties to make a final effort to settle the issue before proceeding with a trial.
The two people spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose sensitive information. Spokespeople for Dominion and for Fox News’ parent company, Fox Corp., declined to comment.
Late settlement talks were first reported by the Wall Street Journal, which, like Fox News, is controlled by Rupert Murdoch’s family.
Fox and Dominion engaged in a round of mediation in December 2022 but were unable to reach a settlement agreement at that time, the court has previously said.
In the weeks leading up to the start of the trial, Davis issued adverse rulings for Fox, constraining its legal strategy. For one, Davis ruled that Fox cannot contest that the statements it aired about Dominion were false and harmful to the company. Instead, the trial will hinge on whether Fox aired the falsehoods with “actual malice” — that is, with knowledge the statements were false or without regard to their truth or falsehood. Plaintiffs must establish that a defendant acted with actual malice to prove a libel or defamation claim under a nearly 60-year-old standard established by the Supreme Court.
Fox also faces a potentially challenging jury pool. The trial is scheduled to be held in Delaware, where Dominion is incorporated. Therefore, jurors will be drawn from among the state’s electorate, which voted overwhelmingly in the 2020 presidential election for Joe Biden, one of the state’s most popular politicians.
A settlement could help Fox avoid several weeks of potentially embarrassing courtroom testimony from some of its biggest stars. Possible witnesses include popular Fox hosts Tucker Carlson, Maria Bartiromo and Sean Hannity as well as Rupert Murdoch, the 92-year-old chairman and chief executive of Fox Corp.
Pre-trial discovery produced reams of internal Fox communications showing the network’s hosts and employees bad-mouthing one another, voicing doubt about claims aired on the network, and castigating Trump.
Any settlement could come at a price. Dominion officials have insisted they would not settle without a full-throated apology and acknowledgment from Fox that it aired false information — a position that could put the network at odds with many viewers and Trump, who is again running for president.
Jury selection began Thursday and had been scheduled to conclude late last week, but the judge announced late Thursday that several prospective jurors were unable to return to court on Friday and that he would conclude the process Monday instead.
Paul Farhi and Elahe Izadi contributed to this report.
