Trump Ordered By Judge to Sit for Deposition in Lawsuit Against BBC

Screenshot via Truth Social

President Donald Trump must sit for a deposition by Dec. 11 in his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC, according to a report.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett issued his directive Thursday as lawyers for the BBC griped that attorneys for the broadcaster “still haven’t been able to depose the plaintiff” with just two months to go in the discovery period for the litigation.

The president will face sanctions that could include dismissing the case if he doesn’t sit for a deposition by the given date, unless the discovery deadline was extended to Dec. 18, according to the Associated Press.

Trump was slated to sit for a depo on Oct. 16 but ended up canceling while citing “matters of national importance.” The BBC has said Trump wants to delay his appearance until January, the AP reported.

Trump sued the BBC in December, claiming the broadcaster had defamed him in a Panorama documentary linked to its coverage of his Jan. 6, 2021, speech — which came ahead of the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The documentary spliced together two separate clips, creating the impression Trump told supporters: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol… and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.”

In August, Trump dropped a key claim in the litigation to avoid having to disclose his financial records.

The president’s Trump’s legal team withdrew allegations that the broadcaster’s reporting damaged the president’s businesses and brand and  chose to limit the case to claims of personal harm.

“The plaintiff no longer intends to pursue a damages theory premised on injury to the plaintiff’s brands and businesses,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in a legal filing at the time. “It is simply the reputational injury to the president, full stop.”

The BBC has apologized for the editing in the documentary, and the situation resulted in the head of the broadcaster and its top news executive to exit.

But the BBC has denied the allegation it defamed Trump.

This is a breaking story and has been updated.

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