Trump steps up efforts in massive lawsuit against BBC
Donald Trump accuses the BBC of attempting to harass his family members after the network requested to subpoena his children and Jared Kushner for testimony as part of his $10 billion defamation lawsuit.
US President Donald Trump is accusing the BBC of attempting to "harass" his family members after lawyers for the British corporation approached a Florida court requesting permission to serve legal subpoenas to his son Donald Trump Jr., his daughter Ivanka Trump, and his son-in-law Jared Kushner. The subpoenas are intended to compel the three to provide testimony as part of the $10 billion defamation lawsuit filed by Trump against the network.
A spokesperson for Trump's legal team told The Telegraph that "the BBC intentionally defamed President Donald J. Trump, and now the BBC seeks to harass him, his family, and his supporters by abusing the deposition process." According to him, "the BBC is simply trying to deflect attention from its clear liability."
The case concerns a documentary by the "Panorama" program, in which, according to the filing, various clips from Trump's speech on January 6, 2021, were spliced together. The editing allegedly created the impression that Trump encouraged his supporters to storm the Capitol, while in reality, he said during the speech that he wanted his supporters to protest peacefully.
Last year, the BBC apologized to Trump for what it described as an "error in judgment" regarding the film. Subsequently, the film was removed from all of the network's platforms, but the BBC rejected the claim that it was a defamatory publication. Following this, Trump filed a $10 billion lawsuit, claiming that the film damaged his "brand, assets, and businesses." He later narrowed his claims, focusing on the damage he alleges was caused to his reputation.
The BBC is asking the court to dismiss the lawsuit summarily. In documents filed on Friday, the network's lawyers argued that Trump's children "undoubtedly have personal knowledge" of the events that occurred that day, and that their testimony could shed light on Trump's intent in the speech he delivered.
However, attempts to serve them the subpoenas physically were unsuccessful after the US Secret Service prevented access to the president's close family members. Consequently, the BBC turned to the court requesting assistance in finding an alternative way to serve the documents.
According to the documents, Trump himself previously refused to accept the subpoenas on behalf of his children and son-in-law, and did not instruct the Secret Service to allow access to them. At the same time, the allegations regarding the editing of the documentary caused a storm within the BBC and led the then-director general of the network, Tim Davie, to announce his resignation.
Earlier this week, the BBC admitted that the speech was viewed 34 times in Florida, the state where the defamation lawsuit was filed, after the network's lawyers had previously claimed it was not broadcast there. In February, BBC lawyers argued that the lawsuit should be dismissed because there is no proof that the "Panorama" special was created, produced, or broadcast in Florida.
On Tuesday, a judge ruled that Trump is permitted to amend the complaint, a decision that may allow him to expand his claims against the network. The trial date is set for February 2027 in Florida. The BBC declined to comment.
