Trump DOJ Moves To Muzzle Jack Smith, Blocking His Testimony in $10 Billion BBC Lawsuit

The Department of Justice is prohibiting Special Counsel Jack Smith from testifying in President Trump’s $10 billion defamation case against the British Broadcasting Corporation, signaling a steadfast refusal to hand the prosecutor a microphone.The department’s stance was conveyed in a letter to the Beeb’s lawyer on Monday in response to the special counsel’s agreeing to testify. The back-and-forth comes in a suit the president filed last year in Florida. At issue is a BBC Panorama documentary, “Trump: A Second Chance,” that spliced together segments of Mr. Trump’s speech at the Ellipse on January 6, 2021. The edit made it appear as if Mr. Trump was urging violence.The BBC has apologized for what it calls an “editorial error” but refuses to concede that the edit was defamatory. Still, the brouhaha forced the resignation of the BBC’s director general, Tim Davie, and its news chief executive, Deborah Turness. The Beeb contends that Mr. Trump could not have suffered too much as a result of the video because he was reelected in 2024.The case has come to a head in recent weeks as the presiding jurist, Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué A. Lett, ordered Mr. Trump to sit for a deposition by December 11 or face sanctions, including possible dismissal of the case. That date falls a week before discovery is scheduled to close in the lawsuit, meaning the deadline by which all evidence is supposed to be exchanged. Mr. Trump was originally scheduled to be deposed on October 16, but he cited a “matter of national importance.” He campaigned that day in Georgia.Mr. Trump has requested that his deposition be scheduled for sometime between January 11 and January 22. Judge Lett, though, has so far refused to consider that suggestion. Mr. Trump also contends that Mr. Smith should not be deposed because he “lacks any personal knowledge regarding the issues in this matter. He was not present when President Trump’s January 6, 2021, speech was made, nor did he participate in its preparation.”The BBC avers that no “arguments for blocking the deposition of Mr. Smith can withstand scrutiny.” The network contends that Mr. Trump “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.” The president argues that any testimony Mr. Smith could deliver would be “duplicative” because he has already authored a final report.In the letter unsealed on Monday, the Justice Department seeks to add ballast to its contention that Mr. Smith belongs nowhere near this civil suit. The department writes that its former employees are prohibited from sharing “any material contained in the files of the Department” and “any information relating to or based upon material contained in the files of the Department,” without prior approval from Justice Department officials.The Justice Department argues that the request to question Mr. Smith — who has asserted that Mr. Trump is guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt” and would have been convicted “but for” the results of the 2024 election — is “denied because the testimony you seek is subject to the grand-jury-secrecy privilege, classified information privilege, law enforcement privilege, and executive privilege.”The Justice Department tells the BBC that “to the extent that the testimony you seek encompasses non-privileged information, Mr. Smith’s extensive public testimonies and report are adequate substitutes.” The prosecutor testified before lawmakers in September, when he was summoned by the Senate Judiciary Committee. He also testified before the House Judiciary Committee in January and in a closed-door deposition in December.The government also cites the 11th United States Circuit Court of Appeals — which oversees Judge Lett — for the principle that “former and current high-ranking government officials should not — absent ‘extraordinary circumstances’ — be deposed or called to testify regarding an agency’s reasons for taking, or facts regarding, official action.” The BBC argues that there is no greater authority about Mr. Trump’s role in the events of January 6 than Mr. Smith, who unsuccessfully sought to convict Mr. Trump.The Trump administration has also endeavored to mute Mr. Smith in another case — his prosecution of the president over the storage of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. Mr. Smith’s final report in that case — which also ended in dismissal — has been the subject of byzantine litigation after its release was “permanently blocked” by Judge Aileen Cannon in February.The current head of the department, Attorney General Todd Blanche, was Mr. Trump’s lead defense attorney in the Mar-a-Lago case levied by Mr. Smith.

Trump DOJ Moves To Muzzle Jack Smith, Blocking His Testimony in $10 Billion BBC Lawsuit

Trump DOJ Moves To Muzzle Jack Smith, Blocking His Testimony in $10 Billion BBC Lawsuit

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