According to a report by the British newspaper The Guardian on October 22, a U.S. judge has ordered that U.S. President Trump must cooperate with the evidence disclosure process in his lawsuit against the BBC, and must testify under oath by December 11. Otherwise, he may face sanctions, and the lawsuit, which claims $10 billion in damages, could also be dismissed.
It is reported that this lawsuit stems from a documentary aired on the BBC’s “Panorama” program. The program spliced together two speeches that Trump delivered at a meeting nearly an hour before the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. The BBC has acknowledged that this specific editing was misleading, but Trump subsequently claimed that the BBC not only edited his speeches but also used artificial intelligence to insert words into his speeches. The BBC denies these accusations.
Although the show is not easily accessible in Florida, Trump’s team still argues that, under Florida’s ‘Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act’, Trump personally suffered damage due to the show.
During a long hearing on evidence disclosure on the 22nd, federal magistrate Anwarul Khatoon rejected a request made by Trump’s legal team to prevent the recording of the seven-hour sworn testimony. However, the video was only made available for review by the attorneys involved in the case.
In the United States, the discovery system is an important aspect of litigation. It requires both parties to fully share all evidence that may be related to the case before the trial, including written documents, emails, witness testimony, etc.
British Broadcasting Corporation lawyer Charles Tobin argued in Miami court that “we remain in a serious imbalance of evidence disclosure. They have absolutely provided nothing substantive.”
Lyt agreed with Tobin's statement, believing that Trump's team failed to submit all the internal documents related to the case before the December 18th deadline for evidence disclosure.
The documents handed over by Trump's team can be divided into two main categories: either taken from the internet, or provided by the BBC itself.
The judge gave the plaintiff 30 days to submit relevant documents. She acknowledged that the evidence disclosure process could be “burdensome” for both parties, but stated, “Failure to fulfill this obligation may lead to sanctions, including the dismissal of the lawsuit due to the failure to proceed with the case and the lack of participation in a meaningful evidence disclosure process.”
Regarding the Trump team's obligation to fully participate in the evidentiary hearing procedure, the judge said: "This is our final opportunity."
After discussing the evidence disclosure process, the judge turned to handle the BBC's request, which was to compel the US presidential team to agree to accept sworn testimony.
Oath testimony is evidence provided by witnesses after they promise to tell the truth. If a witness is found to have lied under an oath, they are typically charged with perjury.
Previously, the oath testimony scheduled for October 16 was cancelled. Trump’s lawyer stated that the reason was that Trump had “other important national affairs” to handle. However, the BBC pointed out that Trump was actually campaigning in Georgia on that day. Tobin concluded that the plaintiff’s team had spread “fake news”.
In a document submitted on the 21st, Trump's team stated that Trump is willing to take an oath and testify in the second or third week of January.
