A federal judge has ordered US President Donald Trump to sit for a deposition in his defamation lawsuit against the BBC by Dec. 11.
During a hearing Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett ruled that Trump can’t delay answering questions from the BBC’s lawyers, the Associated Press reports. The president had canceled a planned October 16 deposition based on a “matter of national importance.”
According to the BBC’s attorneys, Trump was in fact campaigning in Georgia for the midterms that day.
The judge also warned the president’s lawyers that if he doesn’t comply with court orders to turn over records relevant to the case, the suit could be thrown out.
“He was participating in party politics and prioritized that over sitting for the deposition,” BBC attorney Charles Tobin told the AP, adding that “we still haven’t been able to depose the plaintiff” with only two months left in the discovery period of the case.
If Trump does not attend a deposition before the deadline, he could face sanctions including the dismissal of his case. The only reprieve he can get is if the lawsuit’s discovery period is extended beyond December 18.
Trump is accusing the BBC of defaming him in a 2024 documentary about the January 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection, claiming the media company used deceptive editing to make it appear that he was urging his supporters to use violence to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. The network denies Trump’s accusations.