BBC claimed it could not serve subpoenas due to the protections around the US president’s family
The British Broadcasting Corporation has sought assistance from a Florida court to secure documents and testimony from Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, and Donald Trump, Jr. for the UK broadcaster’s legal tussle with US president Donald Trump, reported The Associated Press.
BBC’s lawyers asserted in a court filing that Ivanka Trump, Kushner, and Donald Trump, Jr. possessed “personal knowledge” and likely held records related to elements of Donald Trump’s US$10 billion defamation suit against BBC, per AP News. The filing indicated that the BBC had not been able to serve subpoenas due to the Secret Service protection and security around the Trump clan.
In addition to defamation, Donald Trump had accused the BBC of deceptive and unfair trade practices. His suit targeted the broadcaster’s edit of a speech he made that was featured in a 2024 BBC documentary.
The US president alleged that the BBC wilfully misrepresented his January 6, 2021 speech by combining two different parts of it in the documentary out of a desire to influence the 2024 US presidential election. The speech had been delivered before the Capitol riot in Washington, D.C.
While the broadcaster issued an apology for how the video was edited, it argued that it did not defame Donald Trump.
The BBC’s August 14 filing claimed that both Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump, Jr. were at the Oval Office while Trump was working on the January 6, 2021 speech. Moreover, Donald Trump reportedly conversed with his son after the riot began.
The broadcaster alleged that it had requested the US president to either receive the subpoenas for Ivanka Trump and Kushner or to instruct the Secret Service to permit the subpoenas’ serving, but Donald Trump rejected the request. Thus, the BBC urged the court to permit the subpoenas’ serving through email and certified mail.
The judge issued a Friday deadline for Donald Trump’s legal team to address the request. A trial has been provisionally scheduled for February 2027, per AP News.
Last week, Florida judge Roy Altman put on hold an order requiring the US president to disclose his business empire’s financial performance in line with the suit.
