US President Donald Trump’s lawyers asked a federal judge in May for a stay of the discovery process in his $10-billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC, pending the outcome of a request to shift such matters to a different judge.
Trump has accused the publicly funded broadcaster of defaming him by splicing together parts of a January 6, 2021, speech to make it appear that he directed supporters to storm the US Capitol.
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Trump’s legal team said Magistrate Judge Enjolique Lett’s “prior representation of a client that was directly averse to President Trump creates an appearance of impropriety,” in a request opposed by the BBC.
“The impetus ... appears to be the flat refusal by the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, a third party that is represented by the same counsel as plaintiff, to provide any financial information under subpoena,” the BBC’s lawyers said.
