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Trump ordered to sit for deposition next week in his defamation case against ABC News
Trump filed the suit over a question George Stephanopoulos asked a lawmaker about the decision in the civil suit brought by E. Jean Carroll.
Trump ordered to sit for deposition next week in his defamation case against ABC News
Trump filed the suit over a question George Stephanopoulos asked a lawmaker about the decision in the civil suit brought by E. Jean Carroll.
www.nbcnews.com
President-elect Donald Trump has been ordered to spend part of the week before Christmas being grilled by lawyers in his defamation case against ABC News.
Lawyers representing the broadcast network and “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos on Friday morning argued in a virtual court hearing that Trump must make himself available for a deposition next week, before a Dec. 24 deadline for the defendants to file a motion for summary judgment to avoid a trial.
Trump has thus far not made himself available for a recorded deposition — to the apparent chagrin of the defense team.
“I can understand your frustration,” U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisette M. Reid said to Nathan Siegel, the lawyer representing ABC News. She noted that while the president-elect previously had a “fairly good argument” to be unavailable for a deposition during a busy election campaign, “he’s now a completely different posture, and he should be able to make himself available.”
Siegel offered to make the deposition as convenient as possible for the president-elect, telling the judge he would fly to Florida to interview Trump near his Mar-a-Lago home and limit the proceedings to four hours. He also suggested the possibility of a Saturday sitdown, if easier for Trump’s schedule.
“I’m going to do everything in my power to make the president available,” replied Trump’s lawyer, Alejandro Brito. “But there are limitations of my ability to do so. I have to factor the Secret Service into the equation.” He assured the court that he would immediately work with Trump’s staff to figure out his availability next week.
Hours after the hearing, Reid issued an order that Trump sit down for an in-person deposition the week of Dec. 16 and that it be limited to four hours. Further, the judge ordered that Stephanopoulos must also be deposed next week and it must also be restricted to four hours.