The federal judge presiding over a lawsuit Donald Trump brought against a celebrity chef who cancelled plans to open a restaurant in his new Washington, D.C. hotel has ordered the President-elect to sit for a deposition in New York during the first week of January.
D.C. Superior Court Judge Jennifer A. Di Toro ruled on Wednesday that Trump must sit for the deposition, which may last for up to seven hours, CNN reported.
While Trump’s lawyers previously agreed to the deposition, they later sought to limit its length and scope, citing “matters of very significant public importance” for which he is now responsible as President-elect.
Neither Trump’s attorney in the case, Rebecca Woods of Seyfarth Shaw LLP, nor his transition team responded to CNN’s requests for comment.
Chef José Andrés pulled out of plans to open a restaurant in the Trump International Hotel in D.C. after the then-candidate called Mexican immigrants “rapists” and drug dealers during the first speech of his campaign.
Trump filed a $10 million lawsuit against Andres for a breach of contract, arguing that the restaurateur’s alleged offense at his comments was “curious in light of the fact that Mr. Trump’s publicly shared views on immigration have remained consistent for many years.”
The President-elect is also suing celebrity chef Geoffrey Zakarian for pulling out of another deal to establish a restaurant at the hotel over the same comments. Buzzfeed released the video deposition from that lawsuit in September.
