By Sumayya
MIAMI — A U.S. judge on Thursday ordered U.S. President Donald Trump to sit for a legal questioning session (deposition) by Dec. 11 in his defamation lawsuit against the BB.
The order from U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjolique Lett came because the BBC’s lawyers complained that Trump was delaying his appearance. Lawyer Charles Tobin said that with only two months left in the evidence-gathering phase (discovery period), “we still haven’t been able to depose the plaintiff.”
He noted that both sides had previously agreed on a date of Oct. 16, but the Republican president canceled it, blaming a “matter of national importance.” However, Tobin said that Trump was actually traveling and campaigning in Georgia.
“He was participating in party politics and prioritized that over sitting for the deposition,” Tobin stated.
Judge Lett said Trump must sit for the questioning by Dec. 11 or face punishments (sanctions), which could include throwing out his lawsuit completely. The only exception is if the discovery period gets extended past Dec. 18.
The BBC had asked the judge last week to force Trump to appear after they said he canceled the agreed-upon Oct. 16 date by citing “matters of national importance.” The British broadcasting company claims Trump is trying to delay his appearance until January 2027. The judge has threatened punishments if Trump fails to follow the court’s timeline.
Trump, who has often avoided giving legal depositions in the past, filed his lawsuit against the BBC last December, asking for US$10 billion in damages. He accused the publicly funded broadcaster of defamation (ruining his reputation with lies) and unfair business practices regarding a documentary titled “Trump: A Second Chance.”
The BBC admitted that its filmmakers cut and pasted quotes together from different sections of the speech Trump gave to his supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, right before the storming of the U.S. Capitol. This editing made it look like he was directly telling people to be violent. The broadcaster apologized for the editing, and both the head of the BBC and its top news boss resigned over it. However, the BBC denies Trump’s claims that it defamed him.
Trump’s lawyers say Jack Smith lacks personal knowledge
To help defend itself, the broadcaster officially ordered (subpoenaed) former special counsel Jack Smith earlier this month to give evidence. Trump’s lawyers argued in a shared court filing that there was no good reason for Smith to appear since he is not a part of the lawsuit.
“Smith lacks any personal knowledge regarding the issues in this matter,” Trump’s lawyers argued in the document. “He was not present when President Trump’s January 6, 2021, speech … was made, nor did he participate in its preparation. Smith does not have any personal knowledge regarding President Trump’s state of mind at the time the Speech was given.”
Trump’s team also argued that “Smith’s testimony would be duplicative” (repeating things), because he already wrote a very long report on the events of January 6 and answered questions for many hours. “The entirety of his testimony is publicly available,” his team argued.
The BBC answered back in the exact same court document, saying there are very few people who know more about the events of Jan. 6 than Smith, who investigated them for years.
“It is difficult to imagine a more authoritative source on these issues than Mr. Smith, who spent years gathering evidence on those topics with the force of the Justice Department and the power of the grand jury behind him,” the BBC’s lawyers argued.
“No one forced Plaintiff to file this lawsuit and to dispute that his speech on January 6 incited the violence that followed at the Capitol. But as long as he chooses to maintain the case, he cannot commit the fundamental injustice of preventing the BBC from obtaining the evidence it needs to robustly defend itself on every element of his claim…”
When will Trump sit for the deposition?
In a court paper from Oct. 13, the BBC lawyers said they first asked for dates for a deposition back in July. They followed up many times until both sides finally agreed on Oct. 16.
After weeks of silence, they wrote, “Plaintiff’s counsel responded on September 28, 2026, indicating that the President is no longer available for his deposition on October 16 due to other matters of national importance’ and that counsel would endeavor to provide you with a replacement date by the end of this week.’ He did not.”
The BBC lawyers said they were then told that Trump “has no availability whatsoever for a deposition” before the evidence period closes on Dec. 18. Instead, Trump offered to make himself available during the second or third week of January.
Tobin wrote in the filing: “Those delays have flouted the cooperative spirit of discovery and precluded the BBC from obtaining the evidence necessary to robustly litigate its defence.”
