Agree. Their mutual case is basically cast-iron. And they’re not solely interested in a financial solution, they want to recover their reputation. They can’t achieve that with a probably-secret settlement in which the losing party admits no fault publicly. They win only when the defamatory statements are crushed and openly rebuked, which is achievable only with a jury trial. The very unlikely exception would be if Giuliani et al. agree to a settlement including an extensive and highly public apology tour in which they unreservedly confess to having made up the whole thing. I don’t see that happening.