Miami, Florida — The Dec. 11 deadline was set on Thursday during a hearing where U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett heard complaints from the BBC's lawyers that they have been unable to question the plaintiff, even with only two months left in the discovery period.
"We still haven't been able to depose the plaintiff," attorney Charles Tobin told the court.
Both sides had agreed on Oct. 16 for the deposition. Trump's counsel informed the BBC on Sept. 28 that he was no longer available on that date due to "other matters of national importance," according to the BBC's Oct. 13 filing — a filing made after the broadcaster first requested dates in July.
Tobin told the court Trump was campaigning in Georgia on Oct. 16. "He was participating in party politics and prioritized that over sitting for the deposition," Tobin said.
Failure to appear by the deadline set by Lett will expose Trump to sanctions up to dismissal of his case, unless the discovery period is extended beyond its current Dec. 18 closing date. His lawyers had told the BBC he had no availability before that closing date and would instead be available in the second or third week of January.
The case was filed last December over "Trump: A Second Chance," a documentary about Trump. In the filing, the publicly funded broadcaster was accused of defamation and deceptive and unfair trade practices in its editing of his Jan. 6, 2021 speech, in which quotes from different sections were spliced together to make it seem he was directly urging violence.
The BBC apologized for the editing, and its head and top news executive resigned following the disclosure. It has denied that the documentary defamed Trump.