A federal judge has threatened to sanction President Donald Trump for backing out of a deposition today in his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the British Broadcasting Corporation.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué A. Lett said the president has repeatedly flouted court-ordered “meet and confer” obligations to participate in the discovery phase of the lawsuit.
“The Court has admonished [Trump] for his lack of participation to no avail,” Lett wrote in a Friday order. “Going forward, the Court expects strict compliance with its order, the failure of which will lead to sanctions.”
Trump was scheduled to sit for a deposition Friday as he seeks financial compensation from the BBC, whose journalists spliced together two different parts of a speech he gave on Jan. 6, 2021, before the Capitol insurrection. Late last month, his lawyers canceled the session, citing “matters of national importance” and proposed pushing Trump’s testimony to January 2027.
Trending
The president is in Georgia to campaign for Senate candidate Mike Collins and gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson on Friday, and he’s scheduled to travel to Mar-a-Lago later in the evening.
The suit has proven costly for the BBC, with analysts estimating that defense costs could reach $100 million. The news broadcaster has already been forced to file five separate appeals due to Trump’s “disregard” of the court’s discovery procedures, Lett wrote.
Author
