Court orders President Trump to answer in $10 billion BBC case after alleged defiance over discovery
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A federal magistrate has forced President Trump to hand over documents and appear for a deposition in the BBC’s $10 billion lawsuit, warning that continued stonewalling could bring sanctions or even dismissal of the case.
A federal magistrate judge has ordered President Donald Trump to cooperate with discovery and appear for a deposition by Dec. 11 in the BBC’s $10 billion lawsuit, which alleges damage from a Panorama documentary. The judge warned that refusal to comply could trigger sanctions, including the possible dismissal of the case.
The lawsuit, filed under Florida’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act, claims the broadcast — which stitched together remarks from a Jan. 6, 2021 rally — damaged Trump’s reputation. During a hearing on Thursday, Judge Enjoliqué Lett rejected Trump’s request to block video recording of the seven-hour deposition, instead limiting access to the attorneys involved.
BBC counsel Charles Tobin said Trump’s team had produced “absolutely nothing of any substance” and argued that the documents turned over were mostly pulled from the internet or supplied by the BBC itself. Judge Lett said she doubted a serious search had been carried out and gave the plaintiffs 30 days to produce the requested materials, stressing that failure to do so could lead to sanctions.
The judge also dealt with the deposition schedule, noting that a previously set Oct. 16 date had been cancelled. Trump’s attorney Alejandro Brito said “other matters of national importance” were behind the cancellation. The court said it had the authority to enforce the deposition timeline, though district judge Jeffrey T. Kuntz could still modify it.
In addition, Judge Lett allowed the BBC’s subpoena to Mar-a-Lago to move forward, finding that the club was “intertwined with his profession” and therefore subject to discovery. Brito argued that the president’s occupation is limited to his public office, while Tobin countered that the resort is used to promote his personal reputation.
Trump’s legal team said it was willing to schedule the deposition for the second or third week of January, pending the court’s final order.