The BBC has asked a Florida court to subpoena members of President Trump’s family as part of the British public broadcaster’s legal defense against Mr. Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit, according to a court filing released Friday.
The BBC’s legal team asked the US District Court in the Southern District of Florida for “authorization to serve third parties Donald Trump, Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Jared Kushner,” with subpoenas that would compel the three to provide testimony and documentation regarding events on Jan. 6, 2021, during the assault on the US Capitol by the president’s supporters.
“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 network’s legal team argued in the court filing.
The Defamation Case
In December, Mr. Trump filed his lawsuit accusing the BBC of defamation, as well as deceptive and unfair trade practices. The suit focuses on the way a 2024 BBC Panorama documentary edited a speech delivered by Mr. Trump in Washington prior to protesters attacking the Capitol.
President Trump’s legal team has argued the BBC “intentionally and maliciously sought to fully mislead its viewers” by “splicing together” two clips of the same speech. Mr. Trump’s attorneys have argued that the BBC sought to make it seem like the president had explicitly called for violence and rioting during the speech.
Mr. Trump’s legal team has said the two clips in question were 55 minutes apart, and that the BBC’s edit omitted a “statement calling for peace” in the president’s speech.
The BBC publicly apologized for the edit last year, saying the video had given “the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action.” The network said it would not show the 2024 program again, but it has argued since Mr. Trump filed his lawsuit that the video was not legitimate grounds for a defamation claim.
The Subpoena Attempts
The new court documents show the BBC did attempt to issue subpoenas for two of Mr. Trump’s children and the president’s son-in-law in May, but that it had been unable to do so.
In one instance, the BBC sought to serve subpoenas to Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner at their Florida home, but the network’s representatives were prevented from doing so by local law enforcement officers. The BBC was later informed by the Secret Service that the agency could not accept the subpoenas on behalf of the couple.
In a separate case, a BBC representative attempted to serve a subpoena to Donald Trump Jr. at Trump Tower in New York, but was told by the concierge that the person who normally took such documents may have been at lunch. During another attempt two days later, the BBC representative was told the “legal department” was not in that day.
Why the Family Members Matter
In its appeal to the court to authorize the subpoenas, the BBC has argued that Mr. Trump’s family members are material witnesses to the president’s actions on January 6. The BBC’s attorneys cite documents released by the US Congress that show both Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump were present in the Oval Office when Mr. Trump was still revising his speech that day.
They also pointed to congressional documents that show Kushner had drafted a statement for the president condemning the violence that broke out after his speech, as well as records that show that Donald Trump Jr. spoke directly with his father after rioters stormed the Capitol.
The Response
A spokesman for Mr. Trump’s legal team accused the BBC of “seeking to harass him [President Trump], his family, and supporters by abusing the deposition process.” “The BBC is simply trying to distract away from their own obvious liability,” the statement said.
The court has given Mr. Trump’s lawyers until Friday to respond to the filing.
The Bottom Line
The BBC has asked a Florida court to authorize subpoenas for Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Jared Kushner in President Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the British broadcaster. The BBC argues the family members have personal knowledge of events on Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump supporters attacked the US Capitol. The BBC has previously failed to serve subpoenas to the family members. Trump’s legal team has accused the BBC of harassment.
