Donald Trump has been ordered by a judge to sit for a deposition by December as part of his $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC.
Trump sued the BBC for defamation in December over a Panorama documentary that misleadingly edited his speech before the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
The BBC has been attempting to depose the U.S. president and has wanted to set a new date after Trump postponed his October 16 testimony, citing “matters of national importance” while he was campaigning in Georgia.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett has now said Trump must sit for the deposition by December 11 unless the discovery period is extended, per reports. The judge reportedly threatened sanctions, including dismissing the case, if Trump’s team does not comply.
Trump claims that the Panorama documentary — which was produced by October Films and spliced together two parts of Trump’s Capitol riots speech — was streamed on iPlayer by “hundreds of individuals” using a VPN in the U.S., despite it being geoblocked in America. His lawyers have accused the BBC of a “brazen” attempt to interfere in the 2024 U.S. election, which the corporation denies.
In the fallout from edited speech, BBC director general Tim Davie and Deborah Turness, who led the news division, stepped down. The BBC apologized, calling it an “error of judgment,” but they did not offer to pay any damages.