Trump ordered to answer questions under oath in BBC lawsuit
Trump is suing the BBC over an episode of Panorama that edited together two different sections of a speech he gave in 2021.
A US judge has ordered President Donald Trump to answer questions under oath by 11 December in his defamation lawsuit against the BBC, after lawyers for the broadcaster complained they had been unable to depose him.
Trump is suing the broadcaster over an episode of the current affairs programme Panorama that edited together two different parts of a speech he gave before the riot at the US Capitol in 2021.
At a court hearing, Charles Tobin, a lawyer for the BBC, told the court "we still haven't been able to depose the plaintiff", noting that two months remained in the discovery period, when both sides are required to share information about their cases. US Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett said Trump must sit for the deposition.
Trump cancelled a previous deposition scheduled for 16 October, citing "matters of national importance", while he was campaigning in Georgia. Last week's hearing came after he instead attended a midterms rally in Dalton, Georgia, and a fundraiser.
Trump's lawsuit, filed in Florida, accuses the BBC of deceptively editing the programme. The BBC has apologised for the editing error and says it gave a mistaken impression of what happened. The broadcaster has asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing the programme was not defamatory. Trump has separately dropped his claim against BBC Studios, the corporation's commercial arm.
In US law, a deposition is an out-of-court statement given under oath and recorded verbatim, which can be used as evidence at trial. Lawyers for both sides are normally present.
Source: BBC News — Top Stories — TrendWire reports stories in its own words; facts should be confirmed against the original source.