A final-second settlement has been reached in Dominion Voting Programs’ historic defamation lawsuit in opposition to Fox Information, the events introduced Tuesday in court docket.
“The events have resolved their case,” Delaware Superior Court docket Decide Eric Davis stated. “Your presence right here… was extraordinarily vital. And with out you, the events wouldn’t have been in a position to resolve their state of affairs,” the decide instructed the jurors, earlier than dismissing them.
The settlement was apparently brokered whereas the trial was getting ready to opening statements in Wilmington, Delaware.
After swearing within the jury earlier Tuesday, an unexplained hours-long delay paused proceedings in court docket, which but once more triggered rampant hypothesis {that a} deal was quietly within the works.
What this implies: The last-minute deal means the intently watched case is successfully over and received’t proceed to trial. By settling with Dominion, influential Fox Information executives and distinguished on-air personalities will probably be spared from testifying about their 2020 election protection, which was crammed with lies about voter fraud.
Particulars of the settlement weren’t instantly out there and would possibly by no means change into public.
Extra on the case: In its lawsuit, Dominion sought $1.6 billion in damages from Fox Information. The correct-wing community argued vociferously in pretrial proceedings that this quantity was inflated and didn’t come close to precisely capturing the potential losses that Dominion might have suffered because of Fox’s 2020 broadcasts.
Fox Information and Fox Company — its guardian firm, which was additionally a defendant — say they by no means defamed Dominion, and say the case is a meritless assault on press freedoms. They denied Dominion’s declare that they promoted these election conspiracies to save lots of their falling rankings after the 2020 election.
Whereas the Dominion case is now over, Fox Information remains to be dealing with a second major defamation lawsuit from Smartmatic, one other voting expertise firm that was smeared on Fox reveals after the 2020 election. That case remains to be within the discovery course of, and a trial isn’t anticipated anytime quickly.
