cnn breaking news. welcome to the lead. we have some breaking news for you. i m jake tapper. moments ago, we learned there is a settlement a settlement in the high stakes trial between dominion voting systems and fox dominion was suing fox for $1.6 billion, saying that the network showed complete and utter disregard for truth and facts and accuracy. when they allowed guests and hosts to push false conspiracy theories that the 2020 election had been stolen from donald trump. cnn s oliver darcy is outside the courthouse in delaware. oliver. what do we know about the settlement? we know right now. the judge just announced actually moments ago, jake that this case has been settled out of court. we don t know any details about what happened. but there was this unexplained two hour delay in court proceedings. this settlement really comes right before the clock struck struck midnight jake opening statements were set to begin at 1 30. they did not as scheduled, and there was an unexp
Dominion suing fox for defamation, the case was settled at the last second, the judge saying, quote i have been on the bench in 2010. i think this is the best lawyering i ve ever had . judge davis went on to say, quote i would be proud to be your judge in the future. the hearing in the case are now over. let s bring in cnn legal analysts laura coates and elie honig laura a settlement just as the trial was set to begin, and we should remind viewers that dominion even though it was taking this stance against the lies of fox, and it was taking its this stance demanding accountability from fox. dominion is owned by a new york private equity, private equity firm, and so if they were given an opportunity to have a big check sent to them, they were probably going to take it. the idea here. what you re seeing is the power of pretrial motions, right? the emotions that you will hear that the judge will resolve before a jury ever hears