🇺🇸 BREAKING: A federal judge just threatened President Trump with sanctions for repeatedly blowing off his own deposition in his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC.
Trump had actually agreed back in July to sit for the deposition this past Friday, but his legal team canceled late last month, citing "other matters of national importance," and told the BBC he wouldn't be available to testify until January 2027 at the earliest, well after discovery in the case closes in December.
US Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué A. Lett didn't hide her frustration, writing that "the Court has admonished [Trump] for his lack of participation to no avail," and ordering him to formally respond to the BBC's motion to compel his testimony by October 22. The judge noted this marks the latest in a pattern, the BBC has already had to file five separate appeals over Trump's handling of the discovery process.
Trump sued the BBC in December over its "Panorama" documentary, which spliced together two separate portions of his January 6, 2021 speech. The broadcaster has apologized for the edit but continues to deny it was defamatory, and has argued Trump can't plausibly claim reputational harm since he won the 2024 election after the documentary aired.
The case has already proven costly for the BBC, with legal defense estimated to reach as much as $100 million, and the fight over Trump's own testimony shows no signs of resolving quietly.
#Trump #BBC #Lawsuit #Politics #BreakingNews
Trump had actually agreed back in July to sit for the deposition this past Friday, but his legal team canceled late last month, citing "other matters of national importance," and told the BBC he wouldn't be available to testify until January 2027 at the earliest, well after discovery in the case closes in December.
US Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué A. Lett didn't hide her frustration, writing that "the Court has admonished [Trump] for his lack of participation to no avail," and ordering him to formally respond to the BBC's motion to compel his testimony by October 22. The judge noted this marks the latest in a pattern, the BBC has already had to file five separate appeals over Trump's handling of the discovery process.
Trump sued the BBC in December over its "Panorama" documentary, which spliced together two separate portions of his January 6, 2021 speech. The broadcaster has apologized for the edit but continues to deny it was defamatory, and has argued Trump can't plausibly claim reputational harm since he won the 2024 election after the documentary aired.
The case has already proven costly for the BBC, with legal defense estimated to reach as much as $100 million, and the fight over Trump's own testimony shows no signs of resolving quietly.
#Trump #BBC #Lawsuit #Politics #BreakingNews