It turns out “matters of national importance” only goes so far with a federal judge.
On Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett ordered Donald Trump to sit for a deposition in his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC by December 11. If he doesn’t, he faces sanctions up to and including dismissal of a lawsuit that, it bears repeating, he chose to file.
Quick recap of how we got here. Trump was scheduled to be deposed on October 16 until his lawyers told the BBC he was unavailable “due to other matters of national importance.” The BBC then helpfully told the court what those matters were: a campaign rally in Georgia and a Republican National Committee event at Mar-a-Lago. Trump’s team offered to fit the deposition in sometime in January, which happened to be after discovery closes.
At the hearing, Trump lawyer Alejandro Brito argued that the president’s responsibilities go beyond what appears on his public calendar. Which, sure. But BBC counsel Charles Tobin noted his team has been trying to get the president on the record since July, and the broadcaster’s motion to compel spelled out what’s at stake:
There is hardly a more crucial and relevant piece of discovery in a defamation lawsuit than the deposition of the Plaintiff. For that reason, a plaintiff’s unwillingness to sit for a deposition can be perilous to his claim.
“Perilous” is a very polite way of saying “you sued us, now sit down under oath.”
Trump’s legal team did not address the deposition order in its response. Instead, a spokesman said the “powerhouse lawsuit is holding the BBC accountable for its defamation and reckless election interference just as he has held other fake news mainstream media responsible for their wrongdoing.”
Powerhouse lawsuits, it turns out, still require the plaintiff to show up.
There is one way out. Lett’s deadline holds unless the district judge extends discovery, and the BBC has said it would accept a later deposition date if the trial date moves too. Trump’s media trollsuit playbook has never gotten through discovery, so the question from earlier this week still stands. It isn’t whether Trump will sit for seven hours of videotaped questions from the BBC’s lawyers, but whether his $10 billion lawsuit will still be around on December 11 to make him.
Earlier: Trump Too Busy For A Deposition, Not Too Busy For A Campaign Rally
Trump Bit Off More Than He Could Chew Suing BBC, So DOJ Will Chew It For Him
BBC Tells Trump To Sod Off … Politely
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Bluesky @Kathryn1
