“I tend to agree with the defendant that it strains credulity that a thorough search has been in order to determine that all of the requests have been responded to,” Judge Lett said.
A federal judge has warned President Donald Trump that his $10 billion lawsuit against the United Kingdom-based BBC could be dismissed if he refuses to procure evidence demanded by the media outlet’s attorneys.
“Engaging in discovery is burdensome, but is a burden we undertake, especially if we file a lawsuit,” Magistrate Judge Enjolique Aytch Lett told the president’s personal attorneys during a Thursday hearing.
During the same meeting, Lett authorized the BBC’s request for a subpoena for membership records at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago golf resort in Florida.
CNN notes that Lett also took the opportunity to express skepticism that Trump and his legal team have made a real, concerted effort to search for internal documents related to the case.
“I tend to agree with the defendant that it strains credulity that a thorough search has been in order to determine that all of the requests have been responded to,” Lett said.
Lett then ordered that Trump sit for a deposition in mid-December, but cautioned both parties by saying that it is very likely the date will be pushed back. CNN reports that the BBC remains involved in a dispute with Trump over this potential courtroom appearance. Trump’s legal team, for instance, recently canceled plans that would’ve seen the president testify in court last Friday, citing matters of “national importance.” The BBC, for its part, noted that Trump had spent the entire day on the campaign trail in Georgia.
The BBC later said that Trump’s conduct shows that he “prioritized party politics” over his legal obligations, prompting a harsh response from the president’s personal counsel. In court, Trump attorney Alejandra Britto said that it “insults the intelligence of everyone” present for proceedings to believe that campaigning and fundraising were all that his client dealt with on that particular Friday.
As LegalReader.com has reported before, Trump filed suit against the BBC after the British broadcaster aired a documentary called “Trump: A Second Chance.” In court filings, Trump claimed that the BBC defamed him by editing together video and audio clips from January 6, making it appear as if the president had directly urged his followers to storm the U.S. Capitol building and take other violent action to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 general election.
Though the BBC has apologized for its editing decisions, it maintains that it did not defame the president.
Sources
Judge orders Trump to sit for a deposition in his defamation lawsuit against the BBC by Dec. 11
