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(NEW YORK) — With less than one month until a trial is set to begin in the defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News, attorneys from both sides are expected to seek a summary judgment during a pretrial hearing Tuesday.

The Delaware judge overseeing the case will hear arguments from both Fox and Dominion attorneys on their respective motions for summary judgments, during which both parties will essentially ask the judge to rule on the case before it heads to trial.

Dominion filed its $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News in March 2021, accusing the network of knowingly pushing false conspiracy theories about the voting machine company in the wake of the 2020 election, in order to combat “concerns” over ratings and viewer retention.

Dan Abrams, ABC News’ chief legal analyst, said it would be a long shot for either side to win its motions at this phase, given the overwhelming amount of evidence.

“A motion for summary judgment is a difficult motion to win. It’s basically asking a judge to intervene and say, ‘There’s no need to take this case to a jury,'” Abrams said. “I wouldn’t expect that either party is going to win this case in summary judgment.”

The trial is set to being on April 17.

In its filings, Dominion wrote that “Fox knew. From the top down, Fox knew ‘the Dominion stuff’ was ‘total BS.'”

“Yet despite knowing the truth — or at minimum, recklessly disregarding that truth — Fox spread and endorsed these ‘outlandish voter fraud claims’ about Dominion even as it internally recognized the lies as ‘crazy,’ ‘absurd,’ and ‘shockingly reckless,'” the filing said.

“Fox duped its audience. And Dominion paid the price,” Dominion wrote, while acknowledging the “heavy burden” it faces in proving its claims.

Ahead of the hearing, Dominion has submitted bombshell filings containing hundreds of emails, texts, testimony and other private communications from some of Fox’s biggest stars and executives privately bashing former President Donald Trump and his election fraud claims while continuing to broadcast them on air.

“I did not believe it for one second,” said Sean Hannity in regard to one of Trump’s attorney’s claims, according to one of Dominion’s filings.

In response, Fox has slammed Dominion’s lawsuit as an “an assault on the First Amendment and the free press,” and has defended its airing of Trump’s “undeniably newsworthy” voter fraud allegations and election challenges.

“As long as the press makes clear that the allegations are just allegations and not demonstrable facts, both constitutional and common-law principles protect the right of the press to allow the President’s lawyers to explain their factual allegations and legal theories, as well as the right of the press to express opinions about those claims,” Fox wrote in its own motion for summary judgment.

A Fox News attorney told ABC News that their plan Tuesday was to make the broad first amendment argument that there is no defamation — but that they would also go through many of the individual programs on Fox News, one by one, in hopes of showing that they were not making false statements of fact.

The judge, the Fox attorney said, has the ability to narrow the scope of what proceeds to trial.

At a hearing earlier this month, Judge Eric M. Davis appeared to be readying for trial. He indicated preparations for a jury were already underway, saying that 1,800 jury notices were sent out informing potential jurors that it would be a six-week trial.

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(GAITHERSBURG, Md.) — An attempted kidnapping at a school bus stop went wrong for one 30-year-old man whose attempt was thwarted by a group of children who came to the defense of one of their classmates.

The incident occurred early Monday morning in Gaithersburg, Maryland — approximately 20 miles north of Washington, D.C. — when several students were standing at a bus stop waiting to be picked up by their school bus when 30-year-old Jamaal Germany allegedly attempted to kidnap one of the students.

“The victim stated that they were standing at the bus stop in the 17600 block of Towne Crest Dr., at approximately 7:20 a.m., when the suspect allegedly grabbed the child and pulled them toward an apartment building,” read a statement from the Montgomery County Police Department following the incident. “Several students who were standing at the bus stop attempted to intervene and the victim was able to break free.”

The suspect’s motives regarding the attempted kidnapping are currently unclear as authorities continue to investigate the incident.

Authorities say that when the school bus arrived, all the students were accounted for and boarded the bus before the incident was reported to school staff. A community engagement officer also responded to the children’s school approximately 30 minutes after the attempted kidnapping incident was reported.

“Through the course of the investigation, detectives identified Germany as the suspect,” said the Montgomery County Police department. “He was arrested and transported to the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit. Bond information is not available at this time.”

Detectives from the Special Victims Investigation Division are asking for anyone who believes that they may have been a victim of Germany to call 240-773-5400.

The investigation is ongoing.

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(NEW YORK) — A man made a grisly discovery over the weekend when he discovered a human skeleton while looking for shed deer antlers.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) and the Allen County Sheriff’s Office are conducting a death investigation after a man who was looking for antlers shed by dear near Humboldt, Kansas — approximately 110 miles east of Wichita — reported the discovery of human remains on his search through the area.

“On Saturday, March 18, at around 5:50 p.m., the Allen County Sheriff’s Office requested KBI assistance with the investigation. KBI agents and the Crime Scene Response Team responded to the scene,” according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. “Upon arrival they found human skeletal remains.”

The person whose remains were discovered has not yet been identified and authorities did not say how long they thought the body could have been there for, though they did confirm that identifying the individual would take longer than normal due to the condition it was discovered in.

“Positive identification is expected to take longer than typical cases due to the condition of the remains,” said the KBI. “Death investigations may be determined to be the result of homicide, suicide, natural causes, or an accident. No threat to the public exists related to this incident.”

An autopsy is scheduled to take place though police did not confirm when. Authorities say the investigation is ongoing and made no mention of any possible connected missing persons reports that could be linked to the case.

The KBI is requesting help from the public and anyone with information about this case is asked to contact the KBI at 1-800-KS-CRIME or the Allen County Sheriff’s Office at (620) 365-1400.

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(MIAMI BEACH, Fla.) — The Miami Beach city commission voted against extending curfew restrictions, a day after the city imposed an overnight curfew for South Beach following multiple fatal shootings.

During a special committee meeting on Monday, the council discussed the curfew for more than an hour, but ultimately decided against extending the city manager’s full state of emergency, which would be from Thursday to Sunday.

“These are very challenging moments,” Mayor Dan Gelber said at the start of the meeting. “Very few cities have to deal with these issues the way that we have to deal with them.”

Two people were fatally shot between Friday and Sunday morning in the area, according to the Miami Beach Police Department.

Police responded to emergency calls on Friday night, discovering two men who were shot near 7 Street and Ocean Drive, officials said.

According to Miami Beach Police, one person had been detained and three guns were found at the scene.

On Sunday, police responded to a shooting where they found a wounded man near the 1000 block of Ocean Drive.

The unidentified man was sent to an area hospital, where he later died from his injuries, Miami Beach Police said on Twitter.

The shootings prompted Miami Beach officials to implement a curfew for South Beach starting 11:59 p.m. Sunday.

Sunday’s restriction was the third year in a row that city officials implemented a curfew.

Miami Beach issued a curfew last year after multiple people were injured following a series of violent incidents in the area.

“We have been through this scene for several years in a row,” Vice Mayor Steven Meiner said at Monday’s meeting. “It is never gonna be OK for me to see a dead person on our street.”

ABC News’ Matt Foster contributed to this report.

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(ARLINGTON, Texas) — One student was fatally shot and another injured outside a Texas high school on Monday, according to the Arlington Police Department.

The suspect was arrested and charged with capital murder, Arlington Police Chief Al Jones said at a press conference.

The suspect may also be facing additional charges, police said. He is being held at a juvenile detention center, according to Arlington police.

All the students involved in the incident attend Lamar High School and are all minors.

The female student was hit by gunfire and transported to the hospital by an adult near the incident after suffering non-life-threatening injuries, according to Arlington police.

Police responded within minutes to calls of a shooting outside the high school Monday morning.

The motive behind the shooting is unknown and an investigation is ongoing, according to Jones.

Police did not reveal where the suspect got the firearm and did not reveal the type of gun the suspect used in the shooting, citing the investigation.

At the press conference, Arlington ISD Superintendent Dr. Marcelo Cavazos said he was heartbroken over the shooting, and for the victims, school staff and the entire Lamar High school community.

“Schools deserve to be a safe space for students to learn and to grow every day,” Cavazos said. “We will continue to work with the Arlington Police Department as they conduct their investigation.”

Classes are canceled for Lamar High School students on Tuesday, with counseling services available on Wednesday, according to Cavazos.

Jones said that authorities would work together with the school district to make sure schools are safe for students.

He also called for the community to come together to tackle gun violence.

“We need our community’s help to ensure that guns do not end up on school campuses,” Jones told reporters. “We need gun owners to step up and be responsible and to ensure that they properly are securing their firearms, so kids don’t have access to them.”

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(NEW YORK) — Bob Costello, an attorney who previously advised former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, told reporters his former client has a “lie, cheat, steal” mindset after Costello testified for the defense Monday before the Manhattan grand jury investigating former President Donald Trump’s role in the hush payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

Costello, a longtime Trump ally, appeared before the grand jury as an exculpatory witness after Trump’s legal team asked the DA to allow him to testify, according to a letter to prosecutors obtained by ABC News.

Cohen, Trump’s former personal attorney, paid $130,000 to Daniels in the closing days of the 2016 presidential campaign to allegedly keep her quiet about an affair she claimed to have had with Trump. The former president has denied the affair and his attorneys have framed the funds as an extortion payment.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is mulling whether to charge Trump with falsifying business records, after the Trump Organization allegedly reimbursed Cohen for the payment then logged the reimbursement as a legal expense, sources have told ABC News. Trump has called the payment “a private contract between two parties” and has denied all wrongdoing.

Speaking to reporters after his grand jury appearance, Costello painted Cohen as an unreliable witness on which to base an indictment of the former president.

“I’m trying to tell the truth to the grand jury,” Costello said. “If they want to go after Donald Trump and they have solid evidence, then so be it. Michael Cohen is not solid evidence.”

Costello testified for about two and a half hours, during which he said he described an initial meeting with Cohen during which Cohen was “talking to us while pacing like a wild tiger” and vowing “to do whatever the f— it takes” to avoid prison.

“He went to jail,” Costello said of Cohen, who served prison time after pleading guilty to federal charges related to the hush payment. “Now he’s on the revenge tour.”

Cohen has said previously that “this is not about revenge,” but about telling the truth.

Cohen was present Monday at the district attorney’s office to be available as a rebuttal witness, but he did not testify.

Trump wrote on social media Saturday that he was expecting to be arrested Tuesday, and called on followers to protest.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Monday that the city is prepared for any protests related to a potential indictment.

“We are monitoring comments on social media, and the NYPD is doing their normal role of making sure there is no inappropriate actions in the city,” Adams said.

ABC News’ Katherine Faulders contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday appeared narrowly divided over whether to allow the Navajo Nation to sue the federal government for help expanding their reservation’s access to water at a time when the precious resource has been in tight supply across the drying American West.

After oral arguments that stretched almost two hours, there appeared to be at least five justices supportive of allowing the tribe to purse a claim, but there was no clear consensus from the bench on the scope of the government’s duty to provide water the Navajo seek.

The tribe’s reservation – spanning 16 million-acres across Arizona, New Mexico and Utah – is the nation’s largest. One in three households lacks running water, the Nation says.

At issue is an 1868 treaty in which the U.S. agreed to provide the Navajo, who had been forced off native lands, with a new “permanent home.”

The tribe claims the agreement implicitly requires the government to assess the Navajo’s water needs and develop a plan to meet them for farming and living; the government disputes that it ever agreed to explicitly provide the reservation with a certain amount of water.

The vital but increasingly strained Colorado River, is at the center of the debate along with a labyrinth of agreements carefully apportioning its water to serve nearly 40 million Americans across the West.

A federal district court sided with the government, denying the Navajo Nation’s claim, saying it had failed to identify a “specific, applicable, trust-creating statute or regulation that the government violated.” A federal appeals court reversed, reasoning that the reservation could not exist without adequate water and therefore an obligation to supply it was implied.

Justices Neil Gorsuch, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor all seemed sympathetic to the tribe’s case.

“Clearly, there is a duty to provide some water to this tribe under the treaty, right?” Gorsuch asked Biden administration Assistant to the U.S. Solicitor General Frederick Liu. “Could I bring a good breach-of-contract claim for someone who promised me a permanent home, the right to conduct agriculture and raise animals if it turns out it’s the Sahara Desert?”

“I don’t think you would be able to bring a breach of contract claim,” Liu replied. Gorsuch reacted with disbelief.

“The Navajo could still … lose later on in the litigation, right?” Jackson underscored, implying she is inclined to at least allow the suit to go forward. “The decision that we’re making right now is not on the merits of whether or not the Navajo is correct about the United States having breached its duty.”

Attorney Shay Dvoretzky, representing the tribe, insisted the government has an “affirmative duty to ensure access to water” and that it had broken that promise for generations.

“The states say we’re here to take their water behind their back. No, the Nation is here for its fair share, through a fair process,” he said.

The Biden administration’s Liu said the government remained morally committed to helping the Navajo — and has allocated billions of dollars for infrastructure improvements on reservations — but that the treaty “did not impose on the United States a duty to construct pipelines, pumps, or wells to deliver water.”

An attorney for three states in the case – Arizona, Colorado and Nevada – argued the Navajo Nation should never have been able to bring the claim in the first place, since the Supreme Court has asserted exclusive jurisdiction over disputes involving the Colorado River in a series of decisions and decrees over decades.

They also argue that allowing the tribe to claim expanded water rights over the Colorado would upset pre-existing agreements and ultimately mean less water available to those communities that have come to rely on it.

Justice Samuel Alito appeared most concerned about the potential “real-world impacts” of the case on preexisting water allocation agreements.

“Do you think that you have the right to take out from that water source whatever quantity of water is necessary to meet the standard of a livable, permanent homeland regardless of the needs of others who are drawing water from the same water source?” Alito asked.

“The Nation had water rights first. We do have priority rights to the water,” Dvoretsky responded.

Justice Clarence Thomas suggested any tribal water rights could be limited to pre-existing water, or groundwater, on the reservation — not from an alternate source hundreds of miles away. Justice Brett Kavanaugh openly wondered if this debate isn’t something that Congress should resolve.

“It shouldn’t be left to the Congress now because the Congress then [in 1868] agreed to these treaties,” Dvoretsky said.

A coalition of Western water associations and consumer groups in a friend-of-the-court filing called the case “critically important,” warning the justices about its potential to upend “stability and predictability” of the process to determine water rights.

Allowing the tribe to bring a claim, the groups say, “threatens to undermine the certainty of water rights not only in the Colorado River Basin, but also throughout other water-scarce regions of the United States more broadly.”

Justice Amy Coney Barrett, whose questions focused on the tribe’s ability to defend its water rights in court, could be a swing vote.

While Barrett’s questions signaled some potential unease with the scope of the tribe’s claim — i.e. whether the government could be on the line for billions in expensive infrastructure expenses on the reservation — they also indicated belief that the tribe should be allowed a chance to fight for water in court.

“Seems to me that the strongest arguments made on behalf of the Navajo in the Navajo’s brief are in the nature of you breached the treaty, it was broken promises, you promised us a permanent home and you’re not [providing it],” Barrett said.

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(NEW YORK) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Monday he was “confident” the city is prepared for any protests related to a potential indictment of former President Donald Trump.

“We are monitoring comments on social media, and the NYPD is doing their normal role of making sure there is no inappropriate actions in the city,” Adams said Monday at an unrelated press conference. “We are confident we’re going to be able to do that.”

Writing on his Truth Social platform Saturday, Trump called for protests against what he said was his expected arrest Tuesday, in connection with the Manhattan district attorney’s probe into the 2016 hush payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal attorney, paid $130,000 to Daniels in the closing days of the 2016 presidential campaign to allegedly keep her quiet about an affair she claimed to have had with Trump. The former president has denied the affair and his attorneys have framed the funds as an extortion payment.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is mulling whether to charge Trump with falsifying business records, after the Trump Organization allegedly reimbursed Cohen for the payment then logged the reimbursement as a legal expense, sources have told ABC News. Trump has called the payment “a private contract between two parties” and has denied all wrongdoing.

Adams said city officials have heard “a lot of reports” about a potential indictment, but told reporters he has not met with Bragg nor discussed the matter with him.

Online posts indicate there appear to be a handful of small protests being organized by different grassroots groups. But Ali Alexander, the conservative activist behind the “Stop the Steal” movement, publicly said that his group will not organize any protests.

In Palm Beach County, Florida, sources confirmed to ABC News that authorities were preparing for protests near Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate should the former president be indicted.

On Sunday a small group of pro-Trump demonstrators gathered on the bridge connecting Palm Beach to the mainland. They said they would return with more people on Tuesday or sooner if Trump were to be indicted, according to reports.

An intelligence bulletin issued Sunday by the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency in Washington, D.C., and obtained by ABC News, says that some extremists consider the possible indictment of Trump a “line in the sand.”

“Potential criminal justice actions taken toward a former US president — or actions perceived to be taken toward the former president — remain a ‘line in the sand’ for Domestic Violent Extremists (DVE) communities and thus have the potential to manifest in violence toward government targets or political officials,” said the bulletin from the DC Fusion Center, a threat intelligence group within the agency.

The bulletin notes that the Trump’s social media post in which he called for protests “was met with an immediate increase in violent online rhetoric and expressed threats toward government and law enforcement targets perceived as participating in a political persecution of the former president, as well as calls for ‘Civil War’ more generally. Of the concerning posts observed by the DC Fusion Center, many described the potential arrest of the former president as a ‘red line’ or ‘line in the sand,’ after which violent action was the only possible outcome.”

“This uptick in rhetoric associated with an alleged indictment against the former president represents the most significant 24-hour traction observed by the Fusion Center since the August 2022 search warrant service at Mar-a-Lago,” the bulletin said.

The FBI is warning local and state police agencies around the country about concerns related to a possible indictment of Trump, but the bureau says it doesn’t have any additional information.

“The FBI continues to closely monitor a potential Indictment of the former President which open source reporting has indicated may occur in the coming week,” the FBI said in a warning obtained by ABC News.

“At the present time there is no information to confirm this indictment nor is there any information to indicate violence or criminal activity is planned,” said the FBI, adding there’s no sign that anything “other than First Amendment protected action is being planned.”

The U.S. Capitol Police also issued their own assessment regarding potential violence, saying that they have seen “no current indication of threats directed at the US Capitol or Members of Congress” as it relates to Trump.

The organization “has not yet seen any indication of large-scale organized protests and/or violence, as (it) did leading up to January 6, 2021,” the assessment, which was obtained by ABC News, said.

No current or former U.S. president has ever been indicted for criminal conduct.

ABC News’ Jay O’Brien contributed to this report.

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