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A federal judge ruled President Trump has until Dec. 11 to answer the BBC’s questions under oath in his $10 billion defamation lawsuit, or he could face sanctions that could include having his case thrown out.
Some shit you should know before you dig in: Trump sued the BBC last December over a documentary that spliced together parts of his Jan. 6, 2021, speech, making it look like he directly called for violence. The BBC apologized for the edit, and its director general and head of news both resigned, but the network denies defaming Trump and says the documentary never aired in the US. The BBC has challenged Trump’s claims that the documentary hurt him, and has asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing it doesn’t meet the legal standard for defamation.
What’s going on now: BBC lawyers told US Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett on Thursday that Trump was dragging his feet, and she sided with them. Trump was scheduled to be deposed on Oct. 16, but his lawyers canceled, citing “matters of national importance,” including the White House Accord on Super Intelligence and the wars in Ukraine and Iran. BBC attorneys say Trump actually spent that day at a campaign rally in Dalton, Georgia, and a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump’s legal team had proposed pushing the deposition to mid-to-late January 2027, but discovery in the case is set to close Dec. 18. The deadline could move only if the presiding judge extends discovery. Lett also said cameras can roll during the deposition, over objections from Trump’s lawyers, though only for attorneys and not for public release, and agreed the BBC can see Mar-a-Lago membership application and fee records from 2020 through 2026 to test Trump’s damages claims.
A spokesperson for Trump’s legal team said his “powerhouse lawsuit is holding the BBC accountable for its defamation and reckless election interference.”
