Story by Jane C. Timm
NBC News
WILMINGTON, Del. — Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems reached a $787.5 million settlement agreement Tuesday afternoon, the parties announced, narrowly heading off a trial shortly after the jury was sworn in.
“Fox has admitted to telling lies,” John Poulos, Dominion CEO, said at a news conference after the trial ended.
“Money is accountability,” said Stephen Shackelford Jr., the attorney scheduled to give opening statements for Dominion on Tuesday.
Fox News, in a statement, said it acknowledged “the court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false.”
“This settlement reflects Fox’s continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards,” the network said. “We are hopeful that our decision to resolve this dispute with Dominion amicably, instead of the acrimony of a divisive trial, allows the country to move forward from these issues.”
The resolution came after the jury had been sat but before opening statements began.
“The parties have resolved their case,” Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis said Tuesday afternoon, informing the jurors of the settlement. “That your service is done and I’m going to excuse you. Sorry about making you wait.”
The deal ends a monthslong legal battle over whether the media company had defamed the voting machine maker when Fox broadcast election conspiracy theories in 2020.
Lawyers and media sat waiting in the courtroom for more than two hours after opening statements were scheduled to begin on Tuesday afternoon. Davis re-entered the courtroom just before 4 p.m. to announce the settlement with the lead attorneys on the case rushing in after him.
Dominion sued Fox News in 2021, demanding $1.6 billion in damages. They said the network defamed it when it broadcast baseless claims that it was tied to the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, that it paid kickbacks to politicians and that its machines “rigged” the 2020 presidential election by flipping millions of votes for Trump to Biden.
Late Sunday, the court delayed the conclusion of jury selection and opening arguments to Tuesday morning, leading to speculation that settlement talks could be taking place behind closed doors.
The settlement comes after a bruising week for Fox News. During pretrial conference hearings, Davis sanctioned the network for withholding evidence, and admonished it for not being straightforward with him. He said he would allow Dominion to conduct an additional deposition with Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch at Fox’s expense. Davis also ruled that Fox lawyers could not use newsworthiness as a legal defense, limiting their possible trial strategies.
On Tuesday, Davis also appointed a special master to investigate whether Fox had adequately complied with court-ordered discovery.
Few defamation suits make it this far, but legal experts say the case — and the extraordinary claims and evidence fueling it — was unique.
Legal filings made thousands of pages of emails, text messages and other communications public, revealing that Fox News journalists, hosts and executives knew the bogus claims about the election were false, even as the network continued to put them on air.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
