BBC asks court to subpoena Trump family members for defamation defense

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is seeking to subpoena members of the Trump family as part of its legal defense against a $10 billion defamation lawsuit filed by former President Donald Trump. In a filing with the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Florida, the BBC's legal team requested authorization to serve subpoenas on Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Jared Kushner. The subpoenas aim to compel them to provide testimony and documentation concerning events that occurred during the January 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol by Trump's supporters.

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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 BBC's lawyers argued in the court filing that these individuals "have personal knowledge and likely have possession, custody, or control of records relevant to multiple elements of Plaintiff's claims against the BBC." The court has given Mr. Trump's lawyers until Friday to respond to the BBC's filing. CBS News reached out to Mr. Trump's attorney, Alejandro Brito, for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

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seeking to harass him, his family, and supporters by abusing the deposition process.

A spokesperson for Mr. Trump's legal team issued a statement to BBC News on Sunday, accusing the broadcaster of "seeking to harass him, his family, and supporters by abusing the deposition process." The statement further asserted, "The BBC is simply trying to distract away from their own obvious liability."

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The BBC is simply trying to distract away from their own obvious liability.

President Trump initiated the lawsuit in December, alleging defamation, deceptive, and unfair trade practices by the BBC. The suit centers on a 2024 BBC Panorama documentary that edited a speech Trump delivered in Washington prior to the Capitol attack. Trump's legal team contends the BBC "intentionally and maliciously sought to fully mislead its viewers" by splicing together two clips of the same speech, making it appear as though the president had explicitly called for violence. They claim the clips were 55 minutes apart and that the BBC omitted a "statement calling for peace" from Trump's remarks. While the BBC publicly apologized for the edit last year, it maintains that the video does not constitute grounds for a defamation claim.

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intentionally and maliciously sought to fully mislead its viewers