Settlement reached in Dominion defamation lawsuit against Fox News

People walk by the News Corporation headquarters, home to Fox News, on April 18, in New York City.

In a statement made Tuesday after Fox News settled the defamation case brought by Dominion Voting Systems, Fox said:

“We acknowledge the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false.”

So, what did those rulings say?

This is about the topic of falsity. To win a defamation case, you need to prove a few things. Most importantly, you need to prove the statements were false and that they were made with actual malice, otherwise known as a reckless disregard for the truth.

In a major pretrial ruling on March 31, Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis ruled Dominion had successfully proven that all 20 statements mentioned in its lawsuit against Fox were false. 

Dominion Voting Systems’ co-lead counsel Justin Nelson said he and Dominion’s other attorneys were expecting to go to trial against Fox News on Tuesday.

The final deal to settle the case with the right-wing network for $787.5 million came late in the day, and the settlement papers with Fox were signed just “minutes” before the agreement was announced, he said.

Prior to the last-minute settlement, Nelson told CNN he and other attorneys had been preparing opening statements – even during the two-and-a-half-hour courtroom delay after the lunch recess.

Fox News will pay more than $787 million to Dominion Voting Systems after lawyers from both sides hammered out a last-minute settlement of the defamation case launched against the right-wing network.

The deal was announced hours after the jury was sworn in at the Delaware Superior Court. Rumors of a settlement swirled in the courthouse when, after a lunch break, the proceedings dramatically ground to a halt for nearly three hours with no explanation, while the parties apparently hammered out an accord.

CNN’s Bill Hennessy, court sketch artist, captured scenes from inside the courtroom:

Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis, center, with Dominion attorney Justin Nelson, left, and Fox attorney Dan Webb, right.

Members of the public are seen in the foreground, with Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis on the far right. On the left are smudged glass panels to obscure the jurors and protect their identity.

Lawyers for both sides talk amongst themselves. Lawyers for Dominion are seated on the left side of the room, with Fox's lawyers on the right.

Dan Webb, attorney for Fox, looks at his phone.

Justin Nelson, Dominion's lead counsel, appears on CNN.

Dominion Voting Systems had two goals in its defamation case against Fox News — accountability and “trying to make Dominion whole,” said Justin Nelson, the lead counsel election technology company.

Both were accomplished in this settlement, he told CNN on Tuesday.

The payment of more than $787 million by Fox News to Dominion and the network’s statement acknowledging that its coverage of the 2020 election was false was “a strong message of accountability” and an important victory for the employees of his client’s company.

While the settlement does not stipulate that Fox’s anchors must acknowledge the lies on air, Nelson said it was a consequential outcome for the network.

The texts and emails that emerged during the litigation process from inside the Fox network were valuable, he said. “And what today has shown is that you have to pay a price if you’re telling lies.”

Previous court filings revealed messages that showed that the most prominent stars and highest-ranking executives at Fox News privately ridiculed claims of election fraud in the 2020 election, despite the right-wing channel allowing lies about the presidential contest to be promoted on its air.

He said the settlement with Fox sends a “strong message” to other right-wing outlets in which Dominion has ongoing legal disputes.

Fox News’ payment of $787.5 million to Dominion Voting Systems is the largest publicly known defamation settlement in US history involving a media company. 

Notably, in 2017, ABC News paid $177 million after its years-long legal dispute with South Dakota-based meat processor Beef Products Inc. over its textured meat product that the network referred to as “pink slime.”

At the time, the settlement was believed to be the biggest amount ever paid in a media defamation case in the United States.

Fox News anchors will not have to acknowledge on-air that it told election lies about Dominion Voting Systems as part of the terms of its settlement, a representative for the election technology company told CNN.

Fox News did acknowledge in its statement that falsehoods were broadcast. 

But top anchors at the right-wing talk channel will not be required as part of the settlement to acknowledge on air the lies broadcast in the wake of the 2020 election.

Dominion CEO John Poulos, joined by members of the Dominion Voting Systems legal team, speaks outside the Leonard Williams Justice Center in Wilmington, Delaware, on April 18.

“Fox has admitted to telling lies about Dominion,” said the company CEO John Poulos on Tuesday, following the last-minute $787.5 million settlement with the right-wing network.

Smartmatic representative demonstrates his company's system on August 30, 2018, at a meeting of the Secure, Accessible & Fair Elections Commission in Grovetown, Georgia. 

Smartmatic, the voting technology company that is suing Fox News for $2.7 billion for defamation said its pending case will further expose wrongdoing by the right-wing network, following the last-minute settlement in the case brought by Dominion Voting Systems.

Attorney Justin Nelson

The settlement for more than $787 million with Fox News represents “a ringing endorsement for truth and accountability,” the attorney representing Dominion Voting Systems said Tuesday.

Nelson said that more than two years ago a “torrent of lies” had swept Dominion and election officials across America, causing “grievous harm to Dominion and the country.”

Nelson also said the country must “remain ever vigilant to find common ground.”

“For our democracy to endure for another 250 years and, hopefully much longer, we must share a commitment to facts,” Nelson added.

Daniel Webb, lawyer for Fox News, center, leaves the Leonard Williams Justice Center in Wilmington, Delaware, on April 18.

The $787.5 million settlement in the Fox-Dominion case is an unequivocal rebuke of the right-wing news network and its journalism, said Elie Honig, former assistant US attorney for the Southern District of New York.

“Translated it means we got caught lying by the judge – and I think that’s exactly why we are seeing this absolutely jaw-dropping number,” Honig told CNN’s Jake Tapper.

Although the amount is about half of what Dominion was asking for, it’s still an astonishing sum, he said.

Dominion Voting Systems still has pending lawsuits against right-wing networks Newsmax and OAN, as well as against Trump allies Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell and Mike Lindell.

All of these parties and entities deny wrongdoing and are fighting the lawsuits.

John Poulos, the CEO of Dominion Voting Systems

Following the announcement of a $787.5 million dollar settlement in the Fox News-Dominion case, John Poulos, the CEO of Dominion Voting Systems, said Fox News “admitted to telling lies” about the company.

“Nothing can ever make up for that,” Poulos added at a news conference following court.

“I cannot thank the election officials that we serve enough. Without them, there is no democracy,” he said.

Fox News has issued a statement on its settlement with Dominion Voting Systems acknowledging that some of the right-wing network’s on-air statements about Dominion were false.

For context: The statement was referring to Judge Eric Davis’ recent ruling that 20 Fox News broadcasts from late 2020 contained blatantly untrue assertions that Dominion rigged the presidential election. But Fox won’t have to admit on-air that it spread lies about Dominion, a Dominion representative told CNN.

Dominion attorney Justin Nelson speaks during a press conference.

The settlement between Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems totals $787,500,000, according to Dominion attorney Justin Nelson.

The settlement represents “vindication and accountability,” Nelson said in a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

“The truth matters, lies have consequences,” Nelson said

“Over two years ago, a torrent of lies swept Dominion and election officials across America into an alternative universe of conspiracy theories, causing grievous harm,” Nelson added.

Judge Eric Davis (center) depicted earlier today in an artist sketch before finishing jury selection in the Delaware Superior Court.

Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis praised both sides after they abruptly settled the defamation case between Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems at the last second. 

He said, “I have been on the bench since 2010… I think this is the best lawyering I’ve had, ever.” 

“I would be proud to be your judge in the future,” Davis said, his final words before leaving the bench. 

The hearing is now over. The case is now over.

Reporters and members of the public outside of the Leonard Williams Justice Center where Dominion Voting Systems is suing Fox News in Delaware Superior Court today in Wilmington, Delaware.

A last-second settlement has been reached in Dominion Voting Systems’ historic defamation lawsuit against Fox News, the parties announced Tuesday in court. 

The settlement was apparently brokered while the trial was on the brink of opening statements in Wilmington, Delaware.

After swearing in the jury earlier Tuesday, an unexplained hours-long delay paused proceedings in court, which yet again triggered rampant speculation that a deal was quietly in the works.

What this means: The last-minute deal means the closely watched case is effectively over and won’t proceed to trial. By settling with Dominion, influential Fox News executives and prominent on-air personalities will be spared from testifying about their 2020 election coverage, which was filled with lies about voter fraud.  

Details of the settlement were not immediately available and might never become public. 

More on the case: In its lawsuit, Dominion sought $1.6 billion in damages from Fox News. The right-wing network argued vociferously in pretrial proceedings that this number was inflated and didn’t come close to accurately capturing the potential losses that Dominion could have suffered as a result of Fox’s 2020 broadcasts.

Fox News and Fox Corporation — its parent company, which was also a defendant — say they never defamed Dominion, and say the case is a meritless assault on press freedoms. They denied Dominion’s claim that they promoted these election conspiracies to save their falling ratings after the 2020 election. 

While the Dominion case is now over, Fox News is still facing a second major defamation lawsuit from Smartmatic, another voting technology company that was smeared on Fox shows after the 2020 election. That case is still in the discovery process, and a trial isn’t expected anytime soon.

The Fox-Dominion trial has resumed, after an unexplained delay of more than two hours.

Fox News attorney Dan Webb (left) and Justin Nelson, attorney for Dominion Voting Systems (right), as they arrived with their legal teams outside of the Delaware Superior Court in Wilmington earlier today.

The unexplained delay in the Fox News-Dominion defamation trial has surpassed 90 minutes.

Moments ago in court, CNN observed a top Fox lawyer showing a piece of paper —presumably a note — to a top Dominion lawyer.

A few minutes later, they both stepped out of the courtroom, into a private, secured area for court staff. Moments later, they walked back into court together. It is not known what they privately discussed, if anything.

The lawyers — Fox attorney Dan Webb and Dominion attorney Justin Nelson —subsequently huddled at Dominion’s table for a few minutes, in public view. They were talking to each other, but it is not known what they are saying. 

Both men are now sitting at their respective tables, looking at their phones.

This comes ahead of the expected opening statements in the $1.6 billion defamation trial against Fox News.

Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis has formally named a special master to investigate whether Fox News withheld evidence from Dominion Voting Systems, according to court filings. 

CNN reported last week that the judge was likely to launch this inquiry, which revolves around whether Fox intentionally suppressed evidence that it was legally obligated to provide to Dominion. The dispute escalated after audiotapes emerged of Fox host Maria Bartiromo talking to Rudy Giuliani in 2020. 

The order, which was posted on the docket earlier in the day as jury selection began in the trial, directed attorney John Elzufon to lead the inquiry. Elzufon previously served as special master to handle routine evidentiary issues in the case. 

Elzufon is required to finish his probe and submit a report by May 15. 

The judge’s order indicates that the special master has the power to take depositions as part of his inquiry – and the special master will be allowed to depose anyone he thinks is appropriate. 

Fox is required to pay for all expenses related to the investigation, according to Davis’ order. 

Fox lawyers say they never withheld anything from Dominion, and that when new evidence emerged at a late stage, they turned it over as quickly as possible.

A general view of the Leonard L. Williams Justice Center in Wilmington, Delaware, as media members stand outside, on April 18.

The court in the Dominion-Fox defamation trial reconvened as planned at 1:30 p.m. ET in Wilmington, Delaware, after a lunch break, but there has been an unexplained slowdown in the proceedings.

The trial has not yet moved to opening statements, though that is expected next.

Lawyers for both sides have been present in the courtroom since things reconvened about one hour ago.

They have been looking at their phones, talking among their colleagues and waiting. 

The jury is not inside the courtroom. 

Members of the public wait to enter the Leonard Williams Justice Center where the Dominion Voting Systems defamation trial against FOX News is taking place on April 18 in Wilmington, Delaware.

The court is back in session after a lunch break and opening statements are expected to begin soon in the historic defamation lawsuit brought by election technology company Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News.

Here’s what you need to know about the high-stakes case:

Why is Dominion suing Fox News? Dominion sued Fox News in 2021 over the right-wing network’s repeated promotion of false claims about the company, including that its voting machines rigged the 2020 election by flipping millions of ballots from Donald Trump to Joe Biden. Most of the 20 allegedly defamatory broadcasts mentioned in the lawsuit occurred in November and December 2020. 

The company alleges that people at Fox News acted with actual malice and “recklessly disregarded the truth” when they spread this disinformation about Dominion. To prove “actual malice,” Dominion must convince a jury that people at Fox News who were responsible for these 20 broadcasts knew the Dominion claims were false or recklessly disregarded evidence of falsity — but put them on-air anyway.

According to Dominion’s theory of the case, Fox promoted these election conspiracy theories because “the lies were good for Fox’s business.” Dominion’s suit specifically zeroed in on shows hosted by Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo, Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Jeanine Pirro.  Dominion said that as a result of Fox’s “orchestrated defamatory campaign” it has suffered “enormous and irreparable economic harm” and that its employees have been subjected to death threats and harassment. 

What is Fox’s defense? Fox said it didn’t defame anyone and that the case is a meritless assault on press freedoms. 

A spokesperson for Fox has said the network “is proud of our 2020 election coverage” and that its coverage “stands in the highest tradition of American journalism.” The company said, “Dominion’s lawsuit is a political crusade in search of a financial windfall, but the real cost would be cherished First Amendment rights.”

Fox has also accused Dominion of generating “noise and confusion” around the case, stating, “the core of this case remains about freedom of the press and freedom of speech, which are fundamental rights afforded by the Constitution,” specifically the First Amendment. 

Fox has attempted to get the lawsuit tossed. But in a major blow to the right-wing network last month, the judge overseeing the case has allowed it to go to trial. He has also prohibited Fox from invoking some key First Amendment defenses, finding they were without merit.

What is Dominion asking for? Dominion is seeking $1.6 billion in damages. They say Fox’s on-air lies destroyed its reputation and is causing election officials to cancel their Dominion contracts. CNN recently reported on the growing distrust in voting machines in heavily Republican counties.

What are the trial logistics? The trial is expected to last five to six weeks and will be overseen by Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric M. Davis, who was appointed to the state bench in 2012 by a Democratic governor. A panel of 12 jurors and 12 alternates is being seated.

Cameras are not allowed in the courtroom and there will not be any video of the proceedings. There also won’t be any still photography inside the courtroom. 

Who is expected to testify? Expected witness include Fox Corporation executives Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan Murdoch; Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott and president Jay Wallace; prominent TV hosts Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs, Jeanine Pirro, and Bret Baier, among others.

Dominion said it might also call Viet Dinh, Fox’s chief legal officer, and former House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Fox board member, to the witness stand.

Both sides are also hoping to put on testimony from their handpicked experts who specialize in election statistics, the security of voting machines, journalism ethics, the impact of disinformation in public discourse, and more. 

Read more about the case here.

People arrive at the Leonard L. Williams Justice Center in Wilmington, Delaware, on April 14.

Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis has ruled in Dominion Voting Systems’ favor on key questions about Fox News’ defense, blocking the cable network from making some First Amendment arguments and from bringing up certain pieces of evidence.

The judge ruled that Fox can’t bring up broadcasts where reporters accurately fact-checked Trump’s lies about the 2020 election in an effort to prove that other broadcasts that amplified those lies weren’t defamatory.

Those other broadcasts “are not relevant” to the case, Davis said, because “you can’t absolve yourself of defamation by putting someone else on at a different time” who told the truth about Dominion.

The judge also ruled that Fox can’t use internal Dominion emails where its staffers said their products “suck” and were “riddled with bugs,” to prove that there were real concerns about Dominion machines. Those emails weren’t public in 2020, so they couldn’t have influenced the state of mind of Fox staffers when they promoted the Dominion claims on their shows.

But if Dominion wins and the case moves to damages, Fox can bring up these emails to show that Dominion might be losing business because of voting security concerns and not just because of alleged defamation.

Meanwhile, Davis has cleared the way for Dominion to bring up Fox’s financial information at the trial, including details about salaries of top hosts and executives. Fox tried to block this from the trial, arguing that salaries aren’t linked to ratings, and that this data could bias the jury against the network.

“Economics are relevant,” Davis said.

Despite what appeared on air, Fox News executives and hosts privately criticized the Trump camp for pushing claims of election fraud.

In an email between Fox Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation CEO Robert Thomson, Murdoch’s real-time reaction to pro-Trump election deniers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell’s press conference is captured. Murdoch controls Fox Corporation and News Corporation.

“Really crazy stuff. And damaging,” Murdoch wrote in an email on November 19, 2020. Still, Giuliani and Powell returned to Fox shows promoting the same false claims.

The email is among the private text messages and emails that were released as part of Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against Fox News.

The News Corporation building in New York City, where Fox News headquarters and studios are located, seen in November 2022.

The defamation suit brought against Fox News by Dominion Voting Systems could have significant ramifications for the right-wing cable channel.

Opening statements are expected to begin soon in the trial, and both sides will get a chance to speak in court and present their case.

After former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden, Dominion, which is an election technology company, alleges Fox pushed various pro-Trump conspiracy theories because “the lies were good for Fox’s business.” The coverage included false and potentially damaging claims about the company’s voting technology, according to Dominion.

Fox is arguing that it was merely reporting claims made by the Trump administration and Trump’s associates. It says this case is about protecting “the rights of the free press” and that a verdict in favor of Dominion would have “grave consequences” for the fourth estate.

“Dominion’s lawsuit is a political crusade in search of a financial windfall, but the real cost would be cherished First Amendment rights,” a Fox spokesperson said in a statement.

What the jury has to consider: Defamation cases are hard to win in the United States, because of the Supreme Court’s ruling in New York Times v. Sullivan in 1964.

Defamation has to meet a high standard. An entity can’t have just lied, it must have known (or at least strongly suspected) it was lying at the time, and it has to have been done with “actual malice.”

The court has already ruled on the first two, saying Fox aired lies and knew they were lies. So instead of a trial on the comments’ veracity, the jury will be asked to consider whether Fox made the claims maliciously.

Limits on Fox’s defense: The judge has already rejected several of Fox’s First Amendment defenses, and in pretrial rulings barred the network from arguing its guests’ allegedly defamatory statements were “newsworthy” and deserving of coverage.

As the Fox News defamation trial kicks off, the judge instructed the newly sworn-in jury to avoid media coverage of the high-stakes case and focus on the evidence presented inside the courtroom.

Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis told jurors they need to “reach a just verdict regardless of the consequences.” 

“Do not let rumors, suspicion, or anything else… influence you in any way,” Davis added. 

He also gave them the typical instructions for jurors — like not to watch any TV coverage about the trial. 

The jury is now on a lunch break. Opening statements are expected after lunch.

A Dominion Voting ballot scanner is seen at a polling location at an elementary school outside of Atlanta, GA, in January 2021.

Dominion Voting Systems will no longer try to prove that it lost $600 million in contracts and profits because of Fox News’ election lies — but the company is still seeking $1.6 billion in overall damages and is adjusting how it will pursue that eye-popping payout at trial.

On Monday, Fox News publicly asserted that Dominion had reduced its damages claims, down to roughly $1 billion, citing an email that Dominion sent Friday to Fox’s lawyers. But the voting technology company maintains that the number hasn’t changed. 

But what has apparently changed is how Dominion will try to win those damages with the jury. 

Since Dominion sued Fox in 2021, the company has claimed that it sustained about $600 million in lost contracts and profits, plus an additional $1 billion in reputational damage to the company’s value. 

It now appears that Dominion will argue the entire $1.6 billion came from reputational losses, instead of partially from canceled contracts. It’s unclear why Dominion is making this last-minute shift in its strategy.

Fox has aggressively pushed back on Dominion’s damages claim and says the $1.6 billion figure is massively inflated. Fox lawyers have argued that Dominion can’t prove the losses that it is claiming. 

“There’s also a problem that a huge chunk of their lost profits is coming from business they haven’t actually lost,” Fox lawyer Erin Murphy said at a hearing last month. 

As an example, Murphy pointed to a Louisiana contract where she said Dominion was “claiming lost profits on the basis of something they haven’t lost.” The network’s court filings have cited a deposition from Dominion’s CFO saying the Louisiana deal is on hold because of a competitor, not because of Fox.

Dominion’s original lawsuit said, “Louisiana recently cancelled its reassessment and bid process, essentially prohibiting Dominion from securing a new $100-million-plus contract.”

In a private text message conversation with an unknown person, two days before the January 6 attack, Fox News host Tucker Carlson said, “We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly can’t wait.” 

Legal filings made public on March 7 in the Dominion defamation case included private text messages, emails and deposition transcripts.

Carlson added of Trump in the same exchange, “I hate him passionately.” The Fox host said of the Trump presidency, “That’s the last four years. We’re all pretending we’ve got a lot to show for it, because admitting what a disaster it’s been is too tough to digest. But come on. There isn’t really an upside to Trump.”

A person walks by Fox News signage posted on the News Corporation building in New York City on April 12.

For all the interest in big-name witnesses and eye-opening private text messages, at the core of the defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News are 20 specific broadcasts and tweets in which the voting company says Fox knowingly promoted lies, destroying its reputation.

According to the lawsuit, all 20 statements took place between November 8, 2020, and January 26, 2021, and came in the form of on-air comments from Fox hosts Jeanine Pirro, Lou Dobbs and Maria Bartiromo; interviews with prominent pro-Trump election deniers Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani and Mike Lindell; and several of Dobbs’ tweets.

The wild allegations in the statements fell into four broad categories: that Dominion conducted election fraud, that it used algorithms to flip votes, that it had ties to Venezuela and that politicians received kickbacks to use the company.

The judge overseeing the defamation trial has already ruled that these allegations were false, saying it is “CRYSTAL clear that none of the Statements relating to Dominion about the 2020 election are true.”

At trial, it will be a jury’s job to determine if the statements were made with “actual malice” – a high bar based on knowing falseness or having a reckless disregard for the truth – and potentially award damages. Dominion has asked for $1.6 billion in damages and additional punitive damages, a number Fox says is wildly overblown.

Fox has denied wrongdoing and said the case is a meritless assault on press freedoms. Lawyers for Fox have argued that Dominion hasn’t come close to clearing the high bar to prove defamation.

Here’s a closer look at those 20 specific broadcasts and tweets of alleged defamation.

Left to right, clockwise: Fox News TV hosts Tucker Carlson, Maria Bartiromo, Sean Hannity, and Bret Baier.

Dominion Voting Systems wants Fox network’s star hosts and top executives to appear on the witness stand during trial, it said in a court filing in March.

In April, Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis said Dominion could compel Fox Corporation Chairman Rupert Murdoch and his son, CEO Lachlan Murdoch, to testify, in a big blow to Fox.

“Both parties have made these witnesses very relevant,” Davis said, regarding the Murdochs. Fox was trying to block Dominion from having the Murdochs on the witness stand.

Here’s who else could appear as witnesses, if Dominion gets its way:

After swearing in the jury in the historic Fox-Dominion trial, Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis gave the jury standard warnings not to discuss the case or do any of their own research about it.  

“You have to fight human nature,” Davis said. “You can’t talk about the case, among yourselves… at any time until final deliberations… it’s hard, but you do have to fight human nature.”

He also told the jurors that they’re not allowed to do any independent research about the case. 

“Do not do any detective work,” Davis said, adding, “You have to limit yourself to what’s in the courtroom.”

The judge in the Fox-Dominion trial issued a stern warning Tuesday to the people inside the courtroom, reminding them that photography is not permitted after a Fox News staffer broke the rules. 

“If you violate the protocol order… you will be escorted out,” Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis said, adding, “I personally think you should be – something else.”

The judge’s rebuke came after a Fox News spokeswoman snapped a picture from inside the courtroom before the court was in session. She was subsequently removed.

The spokeswoman later told CNN said she had misunderstood the rules before the trial started and did not transmit the photo. The photo was subsequently deleted, she said.

The spokeswoman attended many of the pretrial proceedings last week, without any issue. Fox News’ chief spokesperson, Irena Briganti, is barred from watching the trial because she is on the witness list.

CNN’s Jon Passantino contributed reporting to this post.

The judge in the Fox News defamation trial formally swore in the panel of 12 jurors and 12 alternates on Tuesday. 

The jurors all rose and affirmed that they truthfully answered questions during the jury selection process.

The court is currently on a break.

Most of the jurors in Dominion’s historic defamation trial against Fox News appear to be people of color.

The 12-member jury was selected after a roughly hourlong process Tuesday morning in Delaware Superior Court. It appears that nine of the 12 jurors are people of color. 

There are six men and six women on the panel.

The jurors hail from New Castle County, the most populous county in Delaware, which is home to Wilmington and Newark. 

Dominion attorney Justin Nelson (left) and Fox attorney Dan Webb (right), in front of Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis today.

Lawyers for Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems told the judge Tuesday that they have a large number of objections to the slides that the other side wants to present to the jury as part of their opening statements. 

The judge said these issues would need to be resolved before opening statements can begin. 

“They are objecting to huge amounts of it that would cripple our actual malice position,” Fox lawyer Dan Webb said. 

Meanwhile, the jury selection process is still underway – with the alternate panel being picked now.

A jury has been picked in Dominion Voting Systems’ historic defamation trial against Fox News.

The 12 jurors have been selected, but they have not been sworn in yet. They are now in the process of picking the alternates.

Rupert Murdoch in South Africa in 2017.

The judge in the Dominion-Fox defamation case said Monday that he appreciates Fox’s recent apology for providing him with inaccurate information about Rupert Murdoch’s role at the network, and will decide later if any punishment is necessary.

Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis — who last week said he would bring in a special master to investigate if Fox intentionally lied to the court about Murdoch — said in a letter that he considers the matter “to be closed.” 

Fox apologized to Davis in a letter on Friday, days after he lashed out at the network’s attorneys for repeatedly providing incomplete and inaccurate information about Murdoch’s dual roles at Fox News and its parent corporation. 

This distinction could have hampered Dominion’s ability to collect evidence about Murdoch during the discovery process, according to Dominion’s lawyers. Fox says it never withheld any material and never lied to the court. 

It appears that the special master’s probe into a separate incident of Fox potentially withholding evidence is still underway. That was triggered after it was revealed last week that Fox only recently turned over audiotapes of on-air personality Maria Bartiromo that Davis said were “extremely relevant” to the case. 

Former President Donald Trump speaking at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Tuesday, April 4 in Palm Beach, Fla., after being arraigned earlier in the day in New York City.

The defamation clash between Fox News and a small election services firm, due to go to trial this week, represents the most significant moment yet in which those who disseminated former President Donald Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen must answer for conduct that is still poisoning American democracy.

Dominion Voting Systems alleges the conservative network promulgated the ex-president’s conspiracy theories, including about its voting machines, to avoid alienating its viewers and for the good of its bottom line.

The drama expected to play out in a Delaware courtroom represents an extraordinary moment in modern American history because it could show how truth has been tarnished as a political currency and highlight a right-wing business model that depends on spinning an alternative reality. And yet, it remains unclear whether Trump – the primary author of the corrosive conspiracies that the 2020 election was fraudulent – will end up paying a significant personal or political price.

The idea that Trump’s claims – echoed by his aides and allies on Fox and sometimes by the channel’s personalities – had any merit will not even make it to first base in the trial. In one remarkable development during pre-trial hearings, presiding Superior Court Judge Eric Davis ruled that jurors did not even need to decide one key issue: whether Fox’s claims about Dominion were true.

The epic case now turns on an attempt by Dominion to prove the legal standard for defamation that Fox must have known (or strongly suspected) it was lying about the issues at hand at the time and that it acted with “actual malice.”

Keep reading here.

Exterior view of News Corp. Building and Fox News Headquarters, in New York, NY, on February 28.

Legal filings in the Dominion Voting Systems defamation case against Fox News have been made public, and a trove of private text messages, emails and deposition transcripts reveal how Fox hosts, producers and executives really felt about Trump and his election lies.

The damning behind-the-scenes conversations were included in roughly 10,000 pages of court documents that have been made public as part of the lawsuit, many of which are likely to be shown in the trial.

Though major figures at Fox privately acknowledged reality – that former President Donald Trump had lost to President Joe Biden in 2020 – Fox continued to air conspiracies and lies in order to keep its large audience engaged.

Host Tucker Carlson said in one text message he “passionately” hates Trump. In one November 2020 exchange, Tucker Carlson said Trump’s decision to snub Joe Biden’s inauguration was “so destructive,” adding that Trump’s post-election behavior was “disgusting” and that he was “trying to look away.”

Murdoch emailed New York Post’s Col Allan, describing Trump’s election lies as “bulls**t and “damaging.”

Murdoch’s private messages revealed how his own thoughts contradicted what Fox espoused. “Maybe Sean (Hannity) and Laura (Ingraham) went too far,” Murdoch wrote in an email Fox News chief executive Suzanne Scott, apparently referencing election denialism after Trump’s loss to President Joe Biden.

This artist sketch depicts Judge Eric Davis of Delaware Superior Court on the bench Monday in Wilmington.

Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis said Monday that the delay in the Fox-Dominion defamation trial “is not unusual” and told the parties that he expects them back on Tuesday to finish jury selection and start the trial.

The Monday morning hearing was only about four minutes long, and there was no mention of potential settlement talks.

The high-stakes defamation trial against Fox News, initially set to begin with opening statements on Monday, was abruptly delayed on Sunday evening, in an eleventh-hour twist.

Speculation around a potential out-of-court settlement has reached a fever pitch because of the delay and comes after the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday night that Fox was pushing for a last-second deal to avoid trial. The newspaper is controlled by Rupert Murdoch, whose media empire includes Fox News. If the trial happens as planned, Dominion has the power to force Murdoch to testify in-person.