Trump opposes Jack Smith's deposition in Jan. 6 defamation lawsuit as 'entirely irrelevant' while BBC sounds alarm about 'fundamental injustice'

Main: President Donald Trump tosses the pen he used to sign an executive order at a campaign rally at the Pinnacle Bank Expo Center, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, in Grand Island, Neb. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon). Right inset: Former special counsel Jack Smith testifies during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing titled "Oversight of Jack Smith's Abuse of Authority and the Targeting of Republicans and Related Matters," in Hart Senate Office Building on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2026. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images).

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Donald Trump's lawyers are clashing again in the president's defamation lawsuit, this time over whether to subpoena Jack Smith for a deposition.

The former special counsel who prosecuted then-candidate Trump in the Jan. 6 and Mar-a-Lago classified documents cases — only for those cases to be tossed out both before and after Trump's 2024 election win — has only "irrelevant" testimony to offer in the BBC matter, court documents detailing Trump's position said on Monday.

The BBC last week urged the Southern District of Florida court to set a discovery hearing to force the president to provide possible dates to sit for a deposition himself "before discovery closes."

Months of requests to Trump's lawyers to set a deposition date have proved fruitless, making the motion to compel a matter of necessity for a "robust" defense, the BBC said.

The BBC added that the president's participation in this case — or lack thereof — resembled what happened in his breach of contract lawsuit against his niece Mary Trump in New York, which ultimately settled.

And on Monday, the BBC's attorneys separately filed a notice describing the "matters of national importance" that Trump cited to support his unavailability for an Oct. 16 deposition in his own $10 billion lawsuit which "[n]o one forced [him] to file[.]"

"As the BBC now knows, on October 16, Plaintiff attended and addressed a campaign rally in Dalton, Georgia, alongside Plaintiff's favored candidates in Georgia's upcoming U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections," a notice said. "Plaintiff subsequently traveled to his resort club and residence at Mar-a-Lago for a Republican National Committee fundraising event."

According to Trump's attorneys, the BBC admitted its out-of-order edit of certain portions of his Jan. 6 speech in the Panorama documentary "Trump: A Second Chance" gave the "mistaken impression that [he] had made a direct call for violent action" that day, making Smith's testimony "entirely irrelevant."

"Although the Court's prior orders state that 'Defendant is entitled to discover the contours of the message and impression' behind President Trump's Speech, Defendant is not entitled 'to relitigate and discover every aspect of the events of January 6, 2021 and seek discovery from any and all individuals who may have knowledge regarding the day's events,'" Trump's lawyers said. "Because Smith lacks any personal knowledge regarding President Trump's Speech or his state of mind, the only evidence that Smith would be able to offer through his testimony would likely be inadmissible."

The BBC, frustrated that it "still has not been able to depose, and does not even have a schedule to depose, the most central figure in this case," answered that "none" of Trump's "arguments for blocking the deposition of Mr. Smith can withstand scrutiny[.]"

"Plaintiff cannot seriously dispute the injustice of blocking Mr. Smith's testimony," the filing went on, adding that it is "difficult to imagine a more authoritative source on these issues than Mr. Smith, who spent years gathering evidence on those topics with the force of the Justice Department and the power of the grand jury behind him."

Given that Trump chose to file the case and the "obligations of civil litigation" still apply to him, the BBC said, "he cannot commit the fundamental injustice of preventing the BBC from obtaining the evidence it needs to robustly defend itself on every element of his claim, including Plaintiff's burden to prove falsity."

U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett late last week set a discovery hearing for 10 a.m. on Wednesday, also warning that a continued "lack of participation" or failure to maintain "strict compliance" with an existing discovery order "will lead to sanctions."