# Lett orders Trump deposition True crime · Heat 3.7 / 10 · 3 shows · 47m airtime On October 23, 2026, Magistrate Judge Lett of the Southern District of Florida ordered Trump to sit for a video deposition by December 11 in his defamation suit against the BBC, warning she will consider dismissal if he does not appear, and let the BBC subpoena Mar-a-Lago records. Trump has since filed papers asking Lett to block videotaping, seeking a January date, a Secret Service-secured location and limited attendance. The BBC's filing calls that request unexplained, unjustified and untimely. Whether Trump sits or drops the suit, as he did in prior cases, remains open. Page: https://boilpoints.com/point/lett_orders_trump_deposition_1687747716 ## Segments - [Global News Podcast](https://boilpoints.com/u/globalnewspodcast), 2026-10-23, 21:39 to 23:40: **Reports the deposition deadline and subpoena**. Reports the judge's order from the hearing: Trump must sit for a videotaped deposition by December 11, the Trump side risks dismissal over slow document disclosure, and the BBC won the right to subpoena Mar-a-Lago records. A provisional trial date is set for mid-February. New angle: The judge set a December 11 deposition deadline and let the BBC subpoena Mar-a-Lago records. - [Legal AF by MeidasTouch](https://boilpoints.com/u/legalafbymeidastouch), 2026-10-23, 2:26 to 5:00: **Reports the December 11 deposition order**. Reports the magistrate's order setting Trump's video deposition for December 11 and her warning that the case could be dismissed if he does not sit. Notes the BBC also wants Smith, Cipollone and Herschmann, and that Trump dropped earlier suits against Cohen and Mary Trump at the deposition stage. New angle: Magistrate Judge Lett ordered Trump's video deposition by December 11 and warned she will consider dismissing the case if he does not sit. - [Legal AF by MeidasTouch](https://boilpoints.com/u/legalafbymeidastouch), 2026-10-23, 9:50 to 12:12: **Recaps Lett's split-the-difference order**. Recaps Judge Lett's order from earlier in the episode: Trump wanted January, the BBC wanted this month, and Lett split the difference toward the BBC with December 11 and a dismissal warning. Adds the three-judge map (Boasberg, Kuntz, Lett) and the witness list, but stays inside the ruling already on the record. - [Legal AF by MeidasTouch](https://boilpoints.com/u/legalafbymeidastouch), 2026-10-23, 0:00 to 2:39: **Previews the Miami deposition hearing**. Previews the hearing before Magistrate Judge Lett in Miami on Trump's BBC deposition, recapping his bid to avoid videotaping and delay, the national security and Iran war excuses, and the BBC's push for Cipollone, Herschmann and Jack Smith. A setup for the day's coverage, not new ground. - [Legal AF by MeidasTouch](https://boilpoints.com/u/legalafbymeidastouch), 2026-10-23, 8:03 to 12:46: **Reads filing rebutting the Clinton precedent**. Reads the BBC's filing against Trump's Clinton v. Jones argument, noting Clinton was deposed as a defendant while Trump chose to sue, and plays his past deposition clips to explain the videotape fight. The filing's line that the no-video request is unexplained, unjustified and untimely goes on the record. New angle: The BBC's filing calls Trump's request to keep his deposition off video unexplained, unjustified and untimely. - [Up First](https://boilpoints.com/u/upfirst), 2026-10-23, 9:09 to 14:20: **Reports the magistrate's December 11 deposition order**. Reports from the Miami hearing where a magistrate judge rejected Trump's national-importance excuse and set a December 11 deposition deadline, then walks through the Panorama splicing and what the BBC hopes to extract on finances and January 6. New angle: A federal magistrate judge ordered Trump to complete his BBC deposition by December 11. - [Legal AF by MeidasTouch](https://boilpoints.com/u/legalafbymeidastouch), 2026-10-24, 0:00 to 2:08: **Previews the videotaping fight before Lett**. Opens on the BBC case with the new filing ahead of the Lett hearing: Trump is fighting videotaping of his deposition. Popok argues a noticed videotaped deposition almost always survives, and walks through the BBC's D.C. subpoena push before Boasberg. New angle: Trump filed papers asking Magistrate Judge Lett to block videotaping of his BBC deposition. - [Legal AF by MeidasTouch](https://boilpoints.com/u/legalafbymeidastouch), 2026-10-24, 2:19 to 6:55: **Reads Trump's filing line by line**. Reads Trump's response filing line by line: it blames the missed October 16 date on Iran, the Middle East, Russia and Ukraine and the White House superintelligence accord, and asks for a January date, a Secret Service-secured room, limited attendance and no video. Notes the BBC's reply cites the Cohen and Mary Trump cases and Clinton v. Jones. New angle: Trump's filing asks for a January deposition, a Secret Service-secured location, limited attendance and no video recording. - [Legal AF by MeidasTouch](https://boilpoints.com/u/legalafbymeidastouch), 2026-10-24, 6:51 to 9:08: **Argues Trump fears a video deposition**. Plays clips of Trump's past deposition performances - failing to identify women in a photo, invoking the Fifth, the E. Jean Carroll testimony - to argue he fears a video deposition. The Clinton clip is the same counter the BBC already made on the record. - [Legal AF by MeidasTouch](https://boilpoints.com/u/legalafbymeidastouch), 2026-10-24, 9:08 to 10:39: **Explains the BBC's defense behind the clips**. Plays the Panorama clips at the center of the suit - the Ellipse 'fight like hell' and 'walk down to the Capitol' lines - and explains the BBC's defense: it wants to show Trump meant exactly that, which is why it seeks Jack Smith's testimony. Background to the deposition fight, not new to it. - [Legal AF by MeidasTouch](https://boilpoints.com/u/legalafbymeidastouch), 2026-10-24, 10:31 to 14:47: **Plays January 6 clips to preview witness list**. Plays January 6 Committee clips of Cipollone calling voting-machine seizure a terrible idea and Hirschman telling Eastman to get a criminal defense lawyer, to preview the BBC's Miami witness list. The witness list itself is already on the record. - [Legal AF by MeidasTouch](https://boilpoints.com/u/legalafbymeidastouch), 2026-10-25, 14:22 to 26:39: **Retells the week's filings in the BBC suit**. Twenty minutes walking through the BBC suit: the truth defense, the three judges, Lett's December 11 order and Trump's bid to keep the deposition off video. It retells the week's filings and stays inside the record, adding a tutorial on third-party subpoenas.