A federal judge threatened to sanction President Donald Trump for failing to attend a deposition hearing Friday in his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the British Broadcasting Corporation.
Trump sued the BBC for $5 billion back in December, alleging a “false, deceptive and defamatory” edit of the “Panorama” documentary “Trump: A Second Chance?” The broadcaster apologized for the edit but denied that it defamed Trump. The president is seeking $5 billion for defamation and another $5 billion under Florida’s deceptive trade practices law.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué A. Lett wrote in a Friday order that the president repeatedly evaded court-ordered “meet and confer” obligations during the discovery phase of the lawsuit.
“The Court has admonished [Trump] for his lack of participation to no avail,” Lett wrote in a Friday order. “Going forward, the Court expects strict compliance with its order, the failure of which will lead to sanctions.”
The president was scheduled to sit for a deposition hearing Friday as he seeks damages from the BBC. Late last month, his lawyers canceled the session, citing “matters of national importance” and proposed pushing Trump’s testimony to January 2027.
He is currently traveling to support Republican candidates ahead of the midterm elections. Trump visited Georgia to support Senate candidate Mike Collins, who is running against incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff, and gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson. He is scheduled to travel to Mar-a-Lago on Friday evening.
The defamation lawsuit accused the BBC of editing a clip of Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021 speech in Washington, D.C. to appear as if the president was calling on his voters to “walk down to the Capitol” and “fight like hell” moments before the violent insurrection took place. The documentary aired Oct. 28, 2024 ahead of the November presidential election.
In March, the BBC filed a motion to dismiss Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit, defending the president couldn’t “plausibly claim that the documentary harmed his reputation” since he won the election after the documentary’s release. It also stated that the president couldn’t prove that the 12-second clip in the hour-long documentary was intended to create a false impression.
In August, the president dismissed the defamation claims he made against BBC Studios Distribution Limited and BBC Studios Productions Limited. Trump only dropped his claims against the commercial and production arms of the company, as his lawsuit against the broadcaster remains.
The BBC sought to subpoena Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner for testimony related to the events on Jan. 6, but those efforts have been squashed by the court.
Representatives for the BBC and Trump did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s requests for comment.
