Judge reminds Trump lawyer there's no exemption for president as Pulitzer board members vent about willy-nilly discovery

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Law & Crime

Jun 23rd, 2026, 11:12 am


Not long after hearing from an attorney for Pulitzer Prize board members, a Florida judge rejected Donald Trump's request for a 150-day extension for discovery, remarking that the president "just has to follow the rules like the rest of us" because he chose to move forward with his defamation suit while in office.

In the lead-up to the case management hearing, the Pulitzer defendants complained that plaintiff Trump hasn't "produce[d] a single written response or document" relating to his tax returns, psychological records, or former special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election despite already having five additional months to comply with discovery in his defamation lawsuit.

The defendants' attorney Martin Reeder's frustration about "willy-nilly" discovery was apparent as soon as he addressed Senior 19th Judicial Circuit Judge Robert Pegg during a Zoom hearing Tuesday morning in Okeechobee County. "It's a defamation case, and it's a defamation case where the plaintiff is a public official, and because he is a public official," Reeder said, "[Trump] must prove actual malice by clear and convincing evidence."

"Plaintiffs are usually unable to accomplish that, and that's why most public official cases that are defamation cases end in summary judgment for the defendants, and here the defendants are entitled to a fair opportunity to conduct all the discovery that they need for their motion," he explained.

Read more: https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/has-to-follow-the-rules-like-the-rest-of-us-judge-reminds-trump-lawyer-theres-no-exemption-for-president-as-pulitzer-board-members-vent-about-willy-nilly-discovery/

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Full headline - 'Has to follow the rules like the rest of us': Judge reminds Trump lawyer there's no 'exemption' for president as Pulitzer board members vent about 'willy-nilly' discovery

REFERENCES

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142944514
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143382693
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143583041
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143610347

[dave99]

1. An actual judge.

[FadedMullet]

2. It's nice to think that there are many judges out there, who were not appointed by Trump, that continue to......

.......do their job well and with fairness.

[Raven123]

3. I read the entire article. Not sure how this will end

The judge indicated there would be another hearing during the week of July 6 with more arguments to resolve "all" discovery deadlines.

[BumRushDaShow]

4. Chances are

he will drop the case or proclaim to have "settled".

[mdbl]

5. He'll drop the case and claim he won it.

[liberalgunwilltravel]

6. He'll drop his pant

Shit on the court room floor and tell his MAGA base that he gifted the Court chocolate ice cream, for which the court thanked him, and expects to be paid for it.