SerpApi.Org
Donald Trump must turn over financial documents in his defamation lawsuit against the BBC, a judge has ruled.
The US president is suing the BBC for $10 billion (£7.5 billion) after The Telegraph revealed last year that a Panorama documentary had allegedly spliced together separate parts of his speech on Jan 6, 2021.
Mr Trump has accused the national broadcaster of “intentionally, maliciously and deceptively doctoring” the speech to give the false impression that he urged his supporters to storm the Capitol, and alleged the BBC’s actions severely harmed “the value of his brand, properties, and businesses”.
A federal magistrate judge in Florida has now ruled that the president must hand over detailed financial information relating to those brands, properties and businesses to prove his case for damages.
Judge Enjoliqué Lett said following a three-hour court hearing on Tuesday that “reputational, economic damages – all of that is now at issue in this case,” Politico reported.
It is expected to give the BBC’s legal team access to financial documents relating to nearly 400 companies owned by the Donald J Trump Revocable Trust, a family trust managed by Donald Trump Jr, the president’s eldest son.
Mr Trump’s lawyers had previously resisted requests for such documents and claimed they amounted to a “fishing expedition” by the BBC.
Al Brito, a lawyer for Mr Trump, claimed in the hearing on Tuesday that the president’s case had “evolved” since it was first lodged. He suggested that Mr Trump now intended only to pursue the reputational damage element of the lawsuit, and not the economic harm element.
“The damages are limited in a way that is different from when the case was originally filed,” Mr Brito said. “Even if there has been a harm to the brand, we are not pursuing that as part of our damages… It’s a far more narrow scope of what this case is about.”
The president’s legal team dropped parts of the lawsuit last week targeting the commercial and production arms of the BBC, but said Mr Trump would continue his lawsuit against the main public-service broadcaster.
The BBC has apologised for the documentary but vowed to fight Mr Trump’s lawsuit, and lawyers for the broadcaster are seeking to have the case dismissed altogether.
They argued in previous court filings that Mr Trump’s re-election to the White House after the documentary first aired in 2024 demonstrated that he did not suffer reputational harm.
Mr Brito claimed in the court hearing on Tuesdsay that a written apology issued to Mr Trump last November by Samir Shah, the BBC’s chairman, “acknowledged the falsity” in the Panorama documentary.
“What matters is what he said relative to what was broadcast that he said. That’s it. There’s nothing more that needs to be examined,” he told the court, according to Politico.
A spokesman for Mr Trump’s legal team told The Telegraph: “The formerly respected and now disgraced BBC defamed president Trump by intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively doctoring his speech in a brazen attempt to interfere in the 2024 presidential election.
“The BBC has a long pattern of deceiving its audience in coverage of president Trump, all in service of its own leftist political agenda. President Trump’s powerhouse lawsuit is holding the BBC accountable for its defamation and reckless election interference just as he has held other fake news mainstream media responsible for their wrongdoing.”
Both the BBC and Mr Brito were approached for comment.
