Judge delays Fox News, Dominion trial involving Rupert Murdoch

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New York: The Delaware judge overseeing a voting machine company’s $US1.6 billion ($2.4 billion) defamation lawsuit against Fox News announced late on Sunday that he was delaying the start of the trial until Tuesday, New York time.

He did not cite a reason.

Rupert Murdoch.Credit: AP

The trial, which has drawn international interest, had been scheduled to start on Monday morning with jury selection and opening statements.

The case centres on whether Fox defamed Dominion Voting Systems by spreading false claims that the company rigged the 2020 presidential election to prevent former President Donald Trump’s reelection.

Records produced as part of the lawsuit show that many of the network’s hosts and executives didn’t believe the allegations but aired them, anyway.

Variety, which broke the news, reported that “the decision is sure to raise speculation that the two sides may be seeking a settlement.”

Fox News stars Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity and founder Rupert Murdoch are among the people expected to testify over the next few weeks.

Court papers released over the past two months show Fox executives, producers and personalities privately disbelieved Trump’s claims of a fraudulent election. But Dominion says Fox News was afraid of alienating its audience with the truth, particularly after many viewers were angered by the network’s decision to declare Democrat Joe Biden the winner in Arizona on election night in November 2020.

AP

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