Jurors are set to get their first look Tuesday at a voting machine companyB次元官网网址檚 $1.6 billion against Fox B次元官网网址 in a trial that will test First Amendment protections and expose the networkB次元官网网址檚 role in spreading of a stolen 2020 presidential election.

The trial began with the judge conferring with attorneys on both sides after he granted a that offered time to see if they could work out a settlement.

Jury selection and opening statements had been scheduled for Monday in Dominion Voting SystemsB次元官网网址� lawsuit. The Denver-based company aims to hold Fox accountable for airing of that continue to roil U.S. politics.

Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis gave no explanation for the brief delay. But he suggested the companies try to mediate their dispute, according to a person close to Fox who was not authorized to speak publicly about the lawsuitB次元官网网址檚 status and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The case will put under scrutiny the that has guided U.S. media outlets for nearly six decades, reveal behind-the-scenes activity at Fox B次元官网网址 in the weeks after the 2020 election and shed light on the flow of misinformation that turned into a tidal wave after the election, which then-President Donald Trump lost to Joe Biden.

Fox B次元官网网址 stars such as Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, as well as company founder Rupert Murdoch, are during , but itB次元官网网址檚 unclear whether any witnesses would be called Tuesday.

Dominion claims New York-based Fox B次元官网网址 and its parent company, Fox Corp., essentially and subjected employees to threats by falsely implicating it in a bogus conspiracy to rig the election against Trump.

In the weeks after Election Day, prominent Fox B次元官网网址 hosts brought on who falsely claimed that DominionB次元官网网址檚 machines were programmed to snatch votes away from the Republican incumbent and pad the Democratic challengerB次元官网网址檚 total.

Many of FoxB次元官网网址檚 hosts and executives but allowed them to be aired nevertheless.

B次元官网网址淔ox spread and endorsed one of the most damaging lies in this countryB次元官网网址檚 history,B次元官网网址� DominionB次元官网网址檚 lawyers wrote in a court filing.

Pointing to communications among Fox figures, from executives to , Dominion argues that the network knowingly amplified for .

Fox says it simply reported on TrumpB次元官网网址檚 challenges to the election results and let viewers hear from his lawyers and allies.

B次元官网网址淒ominionB次元官网网址檚 lawsuit is a political crusade in search of a financial windfall, but the real cost would be cherished First Amendment rights,B次元官网网址� the network said in a statement last week.

Fox said its hosts sometimes alluded to a need for evidence to back up the allegations and noted that Dominion denied the claims.

, exhaustive in and found that could have changed . Nor did they turn up that the vote was tainted.

Dozens of courts, , also rejected his fraud allegations. In the Dominion case, Davis declared it was that the claims about the voting machine company werenB次元官网网址檛 true.

A key question for the jury is whether Fox B次元官网网址 acted with B次元官网网址渁ctual malice,B次元官网网址� a legal standard that applies when public figures sue news outlets for defamation. The standard, derived from a 1964 Supreme Court case, means knowingly publishing or airing something false or operating with B次元官网网址渞eckless disregardB次元官网网址� for whether itB次元官网网址檚 true.

Dominion has pointed to text and email messages in which Fox insiders discounted and sometimes overtly mocked the vote manipulation claims. One Fox Corp. vice president called them B次元官网网址淢IND BLOWINGLY NUTS.B次元官网网址�

Carlson, Fox B次元官网网址B次元官网网址� biggest star, even expressed , whose supporters formed the core of the networkB次元官网网址檚 viewers. Text exchanges revealed as part of the lawsuit show Carlson declaring, B次元官网网址淚 hate him passionately,B次元官网网址� and saying that B次元官网网址渨e are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights.B次元官网网址�

Murdoch, the Fox B次元官网网址 founder and Fox Corp. chairman, found the election claims B次元官网网址渞eally crazy,B次元官网网址� according to an email he sent while watching a news conference that Trump lawyers gave on Nov. 19, 2020.

B次元官网网址淭errible stuff damaging everybody, I fear. Probably hurting us too,B次元官网网址� Murdoch told Fox B次元官网网址 CEO Suzanne Scott in another email that day.

Yet talk of the alleged conspiracy continued to air on Fox for weeks after the voting.

In his deposition for the case, the 2020 presidential election was fair while also acknowledging that some of FoxB次元官网网址檚 hosts the bogus election claims.

The network maintains that Dominion cherry-picked from private messages and broadcast transcripts and depositions of various Fox players, while brushing past other comments and context more favorable to Fox. The network also maintains that DominionB次元官网网址檚 claims of lost business are massively inflated.

Fox found itself in hot water with the judge as the trial neared. Davis last week for what he saw as B次元官网网址渕isrepresentationsB次元官网网址� and belated disclosures of some information in the case. On Friday, a Fox attorney apologized in a letter to the judge for what the attorney described as a misunderstanding about the at Fox B次元官网网址.

B次元官网网址擠avid Bauder, Randall Chase And Geoff Mulvihill, The Associated Press

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