Lett rejects Trump’s attorneys’ claim that the club is separate from presidency

On Thursday, Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett allowed the BBC’s subpoena of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club to proceed. She overruled Trump’s attorneys’ claim that the business is separate from his job as president.

The ruling was part of Lett’s order in Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the British public broadcaster. Trump sued the BBC in December over a documentary aired in October 2024 about the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection.

His lawsuit says comments he made that day were spliced together, making it appear he was inciting his supporters to violence. Even though the documentary was not easily available for viewing in Florida, Trump’s lawsuit says he was personally damaged under that state’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

Last November, the BBC issued a retraction and formal apology to Trump for the documentary’s edits.

In recent weeks, Trump’s attorneys tried to delay his testimony. They said Trump would make himself available for a deposition in the second or third week of January 2027, although he had been scheduled to be deposed on Oct. 16.

His attorneys later told the BBC that Trump was no longer available for the Oct. 16 deposition because of other matters of national importance. In court filings Monday, the BBC identified those matters as an election rally in Georgia and a fundraiser in Florida.

Lett also rejected Trump’s request to bar the proceeding from being videotaped. Under the ruling, the recording would be available only to attorneys in the case.

She also agreed with the BBC’s argument that Trump’s attorneys were not adequately forthcoming in turning over documents ahead of a Dec. 18 deadline for discovery. She gave the attorneys 30 days to turn over the relevant documents.

In the same order, Lett said Trump must sit for a deposition by Dec. 11. The case may be dismissed if he does not testify.

Together, the order allowed the BBC’s Mar-a-Lago Club subpoena to proceed while setting deadlines for document production and Trump’s testimony.