Judge orders Trump to sit for deposition in $10bn BBC lawsuit

A US federal magistrate judge has ordered Donald Trump to sit for a deposition by 11 December in his $10bn lawsuit against the BBC and to produce internal documents, warning that failing to comply could bring sanctions including dismissal of the case.

Judge Enjoliqué Lett issued the order during a lengthy hearing in Miami on Thursday that dealt with a series of disputes over discovery, the exchange of evidence before trial. A separate deadline of 18 December has been set for discovery in the case.

Videotaped deposition allowed

Lett rejected a request from Trump's legal team to stop the seven-hour deposition from being videotaped, though the recording will only be accessible to attorneys in the case.

She agreed with the BBC's lawyers that Trump's side had not been sufficiently forthcoming with internal documents. Charles Tobin, representing the BBC, told the court the two sides were in a "completely lopsided" position and that Trump's team had "produced absolutely nothing of any substance". Documents that were handed over had largely come from the internet or from the BBC itself, the hearing was told.

The judge said it "strains credulity" that a thorough search had been done, and told Trump's Florida-based attorney, Alejandro Brito, that the court was not satisfied anyone was doing a thorough job. The plaintiffs were given 30 days to produce the relevant documents. Lett said that while discovery can be burdensome on both parties, failure to take part could result in sanctions, including possible dismissal of the suit for failure to prosecute the case. "This is the last opportunity to do so," she said.

Dispute over a cancelled date

The BBC had asked the court to compel Trump's team to agree to a deposition after a previously scheduled date of 16 October was cancelled, which Trump's counsel attributed to "other matters of national importance". The BBC noted that Trump was campaigning in Georgia that day; Tobin described the plaintiff's explanation as "fake news". Brito said Trump was "involved in a host of things" on a daily basis that the BBC's legal team had no idea about.

Lett said she was obligated to adhere to the discovery schedule set in the case, although district court judge Jeffrey T Kuntz could extend that timeline. Tobin said the BBC was willing to push back the date of Trump's deposition if Kuntz adjusted the schedule. In a filing on Wednesday, Trump's team said he would be willing to sit for a deposition during the second or third week of January.

Mar-a-Lago subpoena

The judge also allowed the BBC's subpoena to Mar-a-Lago, Trump's Florida club, to go ahead, despite Brito's protest that the business is separate from Trump. Tobin argued the club is "inextricably intertwined" with Trump's reputation, saying he hosts foreign leaders there, among them Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ireland and Russia's Vladimir Putin, and uses it to publicise his personal power. Lett agreed the club "falls within the scope of discoverability".

The lawsuit concerns a BBC Panorama documentary that spliced together two comments Trump made nearly an hour apart during a rally on 6 January 2021, before the US Capitol riot. The BBC has acknowledged that this specific edit was misleading. Trump has claimed falsely that the BBC used AI to insert words into his speech. His team argues he was personally damaged under Florida's Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act, even though the broadcast was not readily available to view in Florida.

Source: The Guardian Business.