Trump ordered to answer questions under oath in BBC lawsuit

A US federal magistrate judge has mandated President Donald Trump to appear for a deposition in his $14.2 billion defamation lawsuit against the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The deposition is scheduled to take place by December 11, 2023. The order was handed down by Judge Enjoliqué Lett, who also warned that Trump faces potential sanctions up to the dismissal of his lawsuit if he fails to comply, unless the discovery period is extended beyond December 18.

Trump is suing the BBC, alleging that the public broadcaster defamed him through the splicing together of two segments from a speech he delivered to supporters in the hours before the January 6, 2021 US Capitol insurrection. The lawsuit also accuses the BBC of deceptive and unfair trade practices. Trump's legal team, represented by Charles Tobin, claimed that Trump had cancelled a previously agreed-upon deposition date of October 16 to campaign in Georgia, emphasizing that Trump prioritized political activities over the deposition.

Tobin expressed frustration with Trump's repeated delays, stating that the defence team was still unable to depose the plaintiff despite having two months left in the discovery period. The BBC, however, denied Trump's accusations of defamation and acknowledged that its filmmakers had spliced together quotes from different sections of Trump's speech to create the impression that he was directly inciting violence.

The broadcaster issued an apology, and both the head of the BBC and its top news executive resigned as a result of the incident.