US judge orders Trump to answer questions under oath in BBC lawsuit by 11 December
A Florida court says President Donald Trump must sit for a deposition by 11 December in his defamation case against the BBC over a Panorama episode.
At a glance
- A US judge ordered President Donald Trump to answer questions under oath by 11 December in his BBC defamation lawsuit.
- Trump cancelled an earlier deposition, and BBC lawyers said he was campaigning in Georgia that day.
- The case concerns a Panorama episode that edited two parts of Trump's 6 January 2021 speech.
A US judge in Miami has ordered President Donald Trump to answer questions under oath in his defamation lawsuit against the BBC by 11 December, unless the discovery period in the Florida case is extended.
The order came from US Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett. It follows a request by BBC lawyers to compel Trump to sit for a deposition after an earlier scheduled session did not go ahead. BBC lawyer Charles Tobin told the court on Thursday that Trump had still not completed the deposition with two months left in discovery.
Trump had cancelled a previous deposition on 16 October, citing matters of national importance. A lawyer for the BBC said in court that Trump was campaigning in Georgia that day and had given that priority over the questioning.
In US legal procedure, a deposition is an out-of-court statement made under oath in response to questions. It is usually held in a lawyer's office rather than a courtroom, without a judge physically present, but it carries legal weight, is recorded verbatim by a court reporter, and can later be used as evidence. In defamation cases, lawyers for both sides normally attend.
On the day of the missed deposition, Trump attended a midterm campaign rally in Dalton, Georgia, and a fundraiser at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida. In a separate filing on Wednesday, Trump's lawyers said he could appear for the interview between 11 and 22 January next year. They also said the BBC was wrong to claim he was avoiding the deposition.
The lawsuit was filed in Florida. It accuses the BBC of "intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively doctoring" the speech Trump gave outside the Capitol on 6 January 2021. The case concerns a Panorama episode that edited together two different parts of that speech, which was delivered before the riot at the US Capitol.
The BBC has apologised for the error and said the broadcast gave the mistaken impression that Trump made a direct call for violent action. The broadcaster has asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that the programme does not meet the legal criteria for defamation and was not available in the US.
In July, Trump's lawyers conceded that they had no evidence the documentary was available in the US on the BBC's BritBox subscription service, as they had originally claimed, or on the BBC's website, BBC Select or through US broadcasters. Trump later agreed to drop the lawsuit against BBC Studios, the BBC's commercial arm, after the BBC argued it had no role in creating or producing the documentary.
Source: BBC World.
Questions and answers
- Why is Trump suing the BBC?
- Trump accuses the BBC of doctoring his 6 January 2021 speech in a Panorama episode. The BBC apologised for the error and said the broadcast gave the mistaken impression he made a direct call for violent action.
- When must Trump answer questions under oath?
- US Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett ordered him to sit for a deposition by 11 December, unless the discovery period is extended. Trump's lawyers have said he could appear between 11 and 22 January next year.
- What happened with the earlier deposition?
- Trump cancelled a deposition on 16 October, citing matters of national importance. BBC lawyers said he was campaigning in Georgia that day and had prioritised that.
