The BBC has asked a US federal court in Florida to authorise subpoenas compelling three members of President Donald Trump’s family to testify and hand over documents relating to the Capitol riot of 6th January 2021, according to a court filing released on Friday.
The broadcaster’s legal team told the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida that it required the “authorisation to serve third parties Donald Trump, Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Jared Kushner” as part of its defence against Trump’s 10 billion dollar defamation lawsuit.
“The Third Parties have personal knowledge and likely have possession, custody, or control of records relevant to multiple elements of Plaintiff’s claims against the BBC,” the corporation’s lawyers argued in the filing. The court has given Trump’s legal team until Friday to respond.
BBC Trump Defamation Lawsuit: What Has Trump’s Legal Team Said?
A spokesperson for the president’s legal team accused the BBC of using the litigation process improperly, saying in a statement shared on Monday that the broadcaster was “seeking to harass him [President Trump], his family, and supporters by abusing the deposition process.” The statement added that “the BBC is simply trying to distract away from their own obvious liability.” Trump’s attorney Alejandro Brito, who is representing the president in the case, did not immediately respond to a separate request for comment.
BBC Trump Defamation Lawsuit: What Is The Underlying Dispute About?
Trump filed the defamation suit in December, accusing the BBC of defamation alongside deceptive and unfair trade practice claims. The case centres on a 2024 Panorama documentary that spliced together two portions of a speech Trump delivered in Washington shortly before his supporters stormed the Capitol. His legal team has argued the corporation “intentionally and maliciously sought to fully mislead its viewers” by combining clips recorded 55 minutes apart, in a manner that omitted what they describe as a “statement calling for peace” and created the impression the president had explicitly called for violence.
The BBC issued a public apology last year, acknowledging the edit had given “the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action,” and confirmed the programme would not be broadcast again. The corporation has nonetheless maintained that the edit does not amount to grounds for a defamation claim.
BBC Trump Defamation Lawsuit: Why Did The BBC Turn To The Courts?
The latest filing reveals that the BBC first attempted to serve subpoenas on the three family members directly in May, without success. Representatives seeking to deliver documents to Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner at their Florida residence were turned away by local law enforcement, and the Secret Service later told the broadcaster it could not accept the subpoenas on the couple’s behalf.
A separate attempt to serve Donald Trump Jr at Trump Tower in New York was rebuffed when a concierge said the relevant staff member was likely at lunch, and a follow-up attempt two days later was told the building’s “legal department” was unavailable.
BBC Trump Defamation Lawsuit: What Evidence Does The BBC Say It Needs?
In pressing the court to authorise the subpoenas, the BBC’s lawyers pointed to material already released by the US Congress, including records showing that both Donald Trump Jr and Ivanka Trump were present in the Oval Office while the president was still revising his speech that day. The filing also cites documents indicating that Kushner had drafted a statement condemning the violence once the riot broke out, along with records showing Donald Trump Jr spoke with his father directly after demonstrators breached the Capitol building.
The BBC’s press office declined to comment further when approached on Monday. The corporation is an international partner network of CBS News.
