Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas (pictured) launched legal action against Research 2000 last year when question marks were raised over the reliability of some of the polls the firm had carried out for the site. When the lawsuit was filed, Moulitsas accused Research 2000, which is headed by Del Ali, of “falsification of data in whole or in part” and sought to recover lost profits, damages and legal fees from the pollster.

Research 2000 initially said it would file a response to Moulitsas’ claims, but the two parties agreed a settlement before the case went any further.

According to papers filed last week with the District Court for the Northern District of California, Ali made a payment of $9,000 to the Daily Kos in April, which the Daily Kos described as “progress”, but the first of two more “significant” payments due in June “to improve compliance with the agreed-upon terms” is now late. Ali is said to be “endeavouring” to make a further payment by 15 June.

The parties have requested that Research 2000 be given 30 days to make the payment – if not, the Daily Kos will move for Ali to be found in default.

Research 2000’s website has been offline since June last year.