Ty Cobb predicts Trump will likely skip deposition, dismiss BBC lawsuit

Former White House attorney Ty Cobb said President Trump would likely skip a mandated deposition or walk out in the middle, which he predicted would lead to the eventual dismissal of the president’s lawsuit against the BBC.

Cobb joined CNN’s Erin Burnett on Thursday night after a judge said Trump must sit for a deposition in his $10 billion suit against the British broadcaster. Cobb said Trump would likely skip the deposition, as he has done once before, and the judge would throw out the case.

“They’re trying to get his deposition, which they’re entitled to, or the case will be dismissed,” Cobb said.

Trump sued the BBC for defaming him in a documentary in which parts of his speech on Jan. 6, 2021, were spliced together to make it seem that he was calling for violence. The BBC acknowledged the error and brought in new leadership, but it is denying the claim that its actions amounted to defamation.

Cobb said the lawsuit was backfiring, highlighting that unlike other media outlets that Trump has sued for what the former White House lawyer called “stories that he didn’t like” but were truthful, the BBC is refusing to settle the case. Trump was set to be deposed earlier this month but canceled due to a “matter of national importance.” He held a campaign rally in Georgia later that day.

“Trump has dragged it out. He’s the plaintiff in the case. He’s the one that invented these claims,” Cobb said, adding that Trump hoped the BBC would cave and pay the president in a settlement, which did not happen.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett said Trump must sit for a deposition by Dec. 11 or face the potential dismissal of the case. He ruled that the deposition would be recorded on video but not released to the public.

“Trump will never sit for it. He’s likely to refuse to go,” Cobb said. “If he does go, he’ll walk out in the middle and the case will ultimately get dismissed unless that the plaintiffs are entitled to and receive his full testimony.”