Settlement talks appear to have fallen flat in the case between Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems.

The trial had been scheduled to begin on Monday morning before it was abruptly delayed on Sunday evening with no explanation.

Multiple reports said that Fox News was pushing for a settlement to avoid the case going to trial and lawyers for both sides were set to meet on Monday.

Following a waiting game in the courtroom, no last-minute court filings confirming a settlement came and so the case is excpected to proceed as planned today.

On the eve of the Fox-Dominion defamation trial, Alex Woodward spoke to First Amendment experts to gauge whether the right-wing network would seek to settle the case out of court.

A former Fox News producer has claimed she has new evidence that could be important to the Fox News v Dominion trial – as the case gets under way in Delaware on Tuesday.

Abby Grossberg, who worked as a senior producer for hosts Maria Bartiromo and Tucker Carlson, has claimed that Fox News repeatedly ignored her reminders that she had an additional work cellphone during the 2020 election that was not turned over to prosecutors.

A new sworn statement, obtained by NBC News, shows that Ms Grossberg says she repeatedly told the network she had an inoperable company-issued cellphone from the time of the election.

However, the network did not include it in court-ordered discovery, she says.

Ms Grossberg, who has since been fired from Fox News after filing a lawsuit against her employer, plans to hand the documents over to the court.

The high-stakes $1.6bn defamation trial between Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems is set to begin today as the right-wing network has failed to reach a settlement with the voting systems company.

Jury selection will continue at 9am ET on Tuesday morning in Delaware before opening arguments get under way.

The trial had been scheduled to begin on Monday morning before it was abruptly delayed on Sunday evening with no explanation.

Multiple reports said that Fox News was pushing for a settlement to avoid the case going to trial and lawyers for both sides were set to meet on Monday.

Following a waiting game in the courtroom, no last-minute court filings confirming a settlement came and so the case is excpected to proceed as planned today.

Fox News is being sued for knowingly spreading false claims that Dominion’s voting systems manipulated the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

Gretchen Carlson has implored Dominion Voting Machines not to settle its defamation case against Fox News before trial.

The former Fox News host sued the then-CEO Roger Ailes for sexual harassment in 2016, before signing a non-disclosure agreement with its parent company.

“PLEASE Dominion — Do not settle with Fox! You’re about to prove something very big,” Ms Carlson wrote on Twitter, after reports began emerging that discussions were being held to settle the case before trial.

“Here’s my take on Fox-Dominion case-(as I’m sending telepathic messages to Dominion to not settle!) I can talk about the current case-but I can’t then answer next logical question (b/c of my NDA)-”Did Fox ever ask you to make up shit when you were there?” Therein lies the problem,” she added.

The former president took to Truth Social in the early hours of Monday and posted in all caps: “If Fox would finally admit that there was large scale cheating & irregularities in the 2020 presidential election, which would be a good thing for them, & for America, the case against them, which should not have existed at all, would be greatly weakened.”

He added: “Back up those patriots at Fox instead of throwing them under the bus – & they are right! There is sooo much proof, like mass ballot stuffing caught on government cameras, FBI colluding with Twitter & Facebook, state legislatures not used, etc.”

Ariana Baio has the story.

At the centre of many election lies, conspiracy theories and the former president’s spurious legal challenges to reverse the outcome was Dominion Voting Systems – a voting machine company baselessly accused of flipping votes.

Those claims were aired uncritically on Fox News.

Alex Woodward reports on what’s at stake in the Fox-Dominion defamation trial.

In a court filing on Sunday, Fox News indicated it would cast blame on Donald Trump and other right-wing networks as it seeks to defend a $1.6bn defamation case brought by Dominion Voting Machines.

Alex Woodward reports from Wilmington, Delaware.

A judge delayed the start of the highly-anticipated Fox News defamation trial by 24 hours, just hours before it was due to begin.

The delay was reportedly ordered so Fox and Dominion Voting Machines could negotiate a potential settlement in the $1.6bn lawsuit.

On Monday, Judge Eric Davis told the court that the delay had been his decision, and did not provide any further information.

Alex Woodward is in Wilmington, Delaware, covering the case for The Independent.

Journalist Bill Grueskin points out that Dominion Voting Machine’s majority owner is private equity firm Staple Street Capitol.

“Remember that Dominion Voting Systems is majority-owned by a private-equity firm, which *might* just be more interested in a large, confidential cash settlement than a long, drawn-out defamation suit and appeals that would further illuminate Fox’s failings.”