BBC asks US court for help with testimony from the Trump family in defamation suit

Britain’s BBC asked a US court for help in getting documents and testimony from members of US President Donald Trump’s family in connection with his US$10-billion defamation lawsuit against the British broadcaster, a court document showed.

Lawyers for the BBC argued that Ivanka Trump, her husband Jared Kushner and Donald Trump Jnr have “personal knowledge” and are likely to have records relevant to elements of Trump’s claims against the broadcaster, according to a filing on Friday in federal court in Florida.

The broadcaster has been unable to serve subpoenas because the three have Secret Service protection and other security staff around them, the filing says.

Trump filed the lawsuit in December seeking US$10 billion in damages from the BBC, accusing it of defamation as well as deceptive and unfair trade practices.

The allegations centre on the way a 2024 documentary edited a speech Trump gave on January 6, 2021, before protesters attacked the Capitol in Washington. The lawsuit accuses the BBC of “splicing together two entirely separate parts of President Trump’s speech” to “intentionally misrepresent the meaning of what President Trump said”.

It added that the editing was “a brazen attempt to interfere in and influence” the 2024 US presidential election.

The BBC has apologised to Trump for the misleading edit but said it had not defamed him.