A U.S. judge has told Donald Trump that he must answer questions in his defamation lawsuit against the BBC or face sanctions.
If the President does not sit for a deposition under oath by Dec. 11, the most extreme outcome might include the dismissal of the entire suit, according to the BBC.
Last year, Trump sued the British broadcaster over claims that a BBC Panorama documentary was doctored to make it appear as though Trump, during his Jan. 6, 2021 speech outside the White House, had urged his followers to attack the Capitol.
The 33-page document, brought in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida last December, alleges that the BBC made “a false, defamatory, deceptive, disparaging, inflammatory, and malicious depiction of President Trump.”
A BBC spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter as news of the lawsuit broke: “While the BBC sincerely regrets the manner in which the video clip was edited, we strongly disagree [that] there is a basis for a defamation claim.”
Ten months later, Trump cancelled a previous deposition set for Oct. 16, citing “matters of national importance.” A lawyer for the BBC said in court that Trump was actually campaigning in Georgia and had “prioritized that” over answering questions.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett said Trump must sit for the deposition by Dec. 11 or he’ll face sanctions, unless this “discovery period” — described by the BBC as the phase where both sides provide internal or other records that could form evidence — is extended.
All of this came about when a leaked BBC memo from an independent advisor, a man named Michael Prescott, concluded that the doc Trump: A Second Chance? “seemed to be taking a distinctly anti-Trump stance.”
In the speech, Trump said: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.” However, in the Panorama edit, he was shown saying: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol … and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.” The two clips stitched together were, in actuality, more than 50 minutes apart.