BBC turns to US courts to depose the Trump family in defamation lawsuit - Sarmad

Court documents filed in a federal court in Florida revealed that the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) turned to the U.S. judiciary to depose members of the Trump family in a $10 billion defamation lawsuit.

A court filing showed that the BBC sought assistance from a U.S. court to obtain documents and testimony from members of U.S. President Donald Trump’s family regarding the defamation suit he filed against the broadcaster, valued at $10 billion.

BBC lawyers stated that Ivanka Trump, her husband Jared Kushner, and Donald Trump Jr. have “personal knowledge” and are likely to possess records related to the elements of Trump’s allegations against the BBC, according to a petition filed on Friday in a federal court in Florida.

The petition stated that the BBC was unable to serve subpoenas because the three individuals are protected by the Secret Service and other security personnel surrounding them. Trump filed the lawsuit in December, seeking $10 billion in damages from the BBC, accusing it of defamation as well as deceptive and unfair business practices.

The allegations focus on how a 2024 documentary edited a speech Trump delivered on January 6, 2021, before protesters attacked the U.S. Capitol in Washington.

The lawsuit accuses the BBC of “combining entirely separate parts of President Trump’s speech” to “deliberately distort the meaning of what President Trump said.”

The complaint further stated that the editing process was a “brazen attempt to interfere with and influence the 2024 U.S. presidential election.” The BBC apologized to Trump for the misleading editing but maintained that it did not defame him.

The latest court filing noted that members of the Trump family are aware of issues related to Trump’s argument that “it would be fundamentally misleading to imply that he incited violence” on January 6, 2021.

The petition cited that Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump were present in the Oval Office while Trump was still reviewing his speech, adding that Donald Trump Jr. spoke directly with his father after the violence at the Capitol erupted.

The filing stated that the BBC asked Trump to accept subpoenas on behalf of his son, daughter, and son-in-law, or to direct the Secret Service to allow service of the subpoenas, but he refused. The BBC requested that the court permit service of the subpoenas via email and registered mail.