A federal judge in Florida has halted an order that would have required the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust to turn over financial records to the British Broadcasting Corporation as part of an ongoing lawsuit filed by the former president.
U.S. District Judge Roy K. Altman granted an emergency motion filed by the Trust, a non-party in the case, to stay the enforcement of a July 27 discovery order issued by Magistrate Judge Lett. The stayed order had directed the Trust to begin handing over confidential financial documents, including asset schedules, property inventories, and trust instruments, starting August 6.
Magistrate Judge Lett previously ruled that the financial records were relevant because President Trump’s lawsuit cited $10 billion in alleged damages, pointing to harm done to his brand, properties, and businesses.
During a July discovery hearing, Lett noted that under current court filings, “all of President Trump’s brand, properties, and businesses are impugned or said to have been impugned and result in both economic and reputational damage, all of that is now at issue in the case.”
However, Judge Altman granted the stay after Trump’s legal team filed a motion seeking leave to amend the complaint. According to court records, the proposed amendment would drop claims related to business and brand losses, narrowing the scope of damages solely to personal reputational harm.
During the July 27 hearing, counsel for Trump and the Trust stated on the record that “even if there has been a harm to the brand, we are not pursuing that as part of our damages.” The attorney added, “I am telling the court that I am not going to leverage any such injury, to the extent it exists, as part of my damage claim. It is simply the reputational injury to the President, full stop.”
In his decision, Judge Altman wrote that because the magistrate judge’s original order relied on a damages theory that may soon be dropped, a pause was appropriate.
“If the Plaintiff’s amendment obviates the need to compel a non-party to disclose confidential financial information, we think it’s prudent to enter a brief stay of the Order until the amendment request is resolved,” Altman wrote.
The court noted that the power to stay a magistrate judge’s order falls within a district court’s inherent authority to manage its docket efficiently.
The BBC had opposed the emergency motion, arguing in part that the Trust’s position on staying discovery was inconsistent with previous arguments made earlier in the litigation. Judge Altman dismissed that argument, distinguishing between a broad stay of all discovery and a limited stay focused on a non-party’s confidential records while a motion to amend is pending.
Enforcement of the discovery order, including both the initial production deadline and ongoing weekly production requirements, will remain stayed until the court rules on the motion to file the amended complaint.
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