Judge delays Fox and Dominion trial for a day

A Delaware judge said on Monday he had delayed the start of a long-awaited defamation lawsuit by one day for spreading false information during the 2020 presidential election.

The postponement of the trial was the latest twist in the affair. Late Sunday, Judge Eric M. Davis said the proceedings would continue on Tuesday. He did not give a reason then or in his brief remarks from the bench just after 9 a.m. Monday.

“That doesn’t strike me as unusual,” Judge Davis said, explaining that he had rarely been part of a trial that hadn’t had a delay. “I’m continuing the business until tomorrow.”

The case opened an unprecedented window into the inner workings of the country’s main conservative news network. In the lead up to the lawsuit, Fox has handed over tens of thousands of emails and text messages exchanged between its hosts, producers and executives. Many of them revealed that there was widespread doubt within the network over former President Donald J. Trump’s false claims that he was cheated out of victory.

The case is seen as a historic test of First Amendment protections for the press and has been closely watched by legal and media analysts. Dominion’s voting machines became the focus of pro-Trump conspiracy theories that falsely implicated the company’s technology in a plot to reverse votes from Mr. Trump to President Biden.

On Monday, the courtroom was packed with reporters from around the world waiting to hear when they could expect to hear opening statements from both sides and exactly what they were about.

Bold names from Fox News – hosts such as Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Maria Bartiromo, as well as Rupert Murdoch, whose family controls the sprawling Fox media empire – are expected to testify if the case goes to trial.

Dominion Voting Systems, an election tech company, filed a libel suit against Fox in early 2021, claiming that Fox hosts and guests repeatedly told lies about its role in a fictitious plot to steal the elections despite knowing the allegations, which had been pushed by Mr. Trump and his supporters, were not true.

Fox said it was reporting newsworthy allegations about a presidential election and insisted its broadcasts were protected by the First Amendment as commentary and news. He also disputed Dominion’s claim for damages, arguing that the company grossly overvalued itself and did not suffer the blows its business suffered, it claims.

This is breaking news. Check back for updates.