Britain14 August, 20263 min read
BBC Seeks Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, and Donald Trump Jr Testimony in Defamation Suit
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BBC asked U.S. court to subpoena Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, and Donald Trump Jr. Subpoenas relate to Donald Trump's $10 billion defamation suit against the BBC.
8 outlets told this the same way.
BBC seeks Trump family testimony
The BBC asked a U.S. court for help in getting documents and testimony from members of U.S. President Donald Trump’s family in connection with his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the British broadcaster.
A court document said lawyers for the BBC argued that Ivanka Trump, her husband Jared Kushner, and Donald Trump Jr have "personal knowledge" and likely have records relevant to elements of Trump’s claims against the broadcaster.
The BBC said it has been unable to serve subpoenas because the three have Secret Service protection and other security personnel around them, and it asked the court to allow subpoenas to be served by email and certified mail.
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" in connection with a 2024 documentary edited from a speech Trump gave on Jan. 6, 2021.
The case centers on the way the documentary edit related to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol in Washington, and the judge has given Trump’s legal team until Friday to respond to the BBC’s request.
Trump’s team rejects the move
Trump’s legal team said the BBC is trying to avoid accountability, arguing that "the BBC is simply trying to distract away from their own obvious liability."
In the same dispute over the BBC’s subpoena request, the BBC said it asked Trump to accept the subpoenas on behalf of his daughter and son-in-law or to direct the Secret Service to allow the subpoenas to be served, but that he refused.
The filing described the family members’ alleged relevance to Trump’s argument "that it would be materially false to imply that he incited violence" on Jan. 6, 2021.
It also said Donald Trump, Jr. and Ivanka Trump were both present in the Oval Office while Trump was still revising his speech, and that Donald Trump, Jr. spoke directly with his father after violence had broken out at the Capitol.
A trial has been provisionally set for February, while a separate order in the case was temporarily paused by U.S. District Judge Roy Altman in Florida as he considers an amended complaint narrowing Trump’s claim of damage to both business and reputation.
What the case could decide
The BBC’s request for testimony is framed as key evidence as the defamation suit heads toward trial over the edited 2024 documentary tied to Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021 speech.
A filing in federal court in Florida said the BBC sought to subpoena Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, and Donald Trump Jr because they have "personal knowledge" and are likely to hold records relevant to parts of Trump’s case.
The BBC said it has apologized to Trump for the misleading edit but has said it did not defame him, while Trump’s lawsuit also accuses the broadcaster of deceptive and unfair trade practices.
The BBC’s latest filing said the family members had knowledge relevant to Trump’s argument about whether it would be materially false to imply he incited violence on Jan. 6, 2021.
The dispute over how the subpoenas can be served—by email and certified mail—runs alongside the separate issue of disclosure of Trump’s business finances that was paused by Judge Roy Altman while he considers an amended complaint.