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Judge Jeffrey T. Kuntz Lets Trump’s $10bn Defamation Suit Against BBC Proceed
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Florida Judge Jeffrey Kuntz allows Trump’s $10 billion defamation suit against the BBC to proceed. Judge rejects BBC dismissal bid, upholding plausible actual malice over edited Jan. 6 footage.
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Kuntz keeps BBC case
A United States judge in the Southern District of Florida allowed President Donald Trump’s $10bn defamation lawsuit against the BBC to move forward after Judge Jeffrey T Kuntz issued a 40-page ruling on Tuesday that partially rejected the broadcaster’s motion to dismiss. Judge Kuntz ruled that Trump’s claim that the broadcaster damaged his reputation and knew or should have known the clip was misleading was “plausibly alleged”, or credible, while the judge did not establish whether Trump has proven those claims. Judge Kuntz also dismissed a second claim under Florida’s unfair trade practices law, leaving the defamation claim to proceed toward the next stage.
“We are surprised by this decision but respect the Court’s authority and note the case will now proceed to the next stage.”
The dispute centers on a BBC Panorama episode titled Trump: A Second Chance? that allegedly edited together two different sections of a speech Trump made on January 6, 2021, nearly 55 minutes apart, as lawmakers voted to certify former President Joe Biden’s win. A BBC spokesperson said, “We are surprised by this decision but respect the Court’s authority and note the case will now proceed to the next stage.”
Claims, edits, and malice
Trump’s lawsuit alleges the BBC “intentionally, maliciously and deceptively” doctoring the speech he gave before the riot at the US Capitol in 2021, and it accuses the broadcaster of “intentionally and maliciously sought to fully mislead its viewers” by “splicing together” two clips of the same speech. Judge Kuntz wrote that the BBC confirmed “it had edited a video to make it appear as though President Trump made a statement he never made,” and he said the BBC acknowledged it chose to release the video “only a week before the 2024 Presidential Election”. Judge Kuntz also dismissed Trump’s Florida consumer-protection law claim, and the ruling left “Whether President Trump can prove these claims and establish he sustained damages at summary judgment or trial is left for another day.”
Trump celebrated the decision in a Truth Social post as “a great victory,” while the BBC said it “remain[s] confident in our position” and would continue through the proper legal process. The BBC’s apology came after it admitted the edit gave “the mistaken impression that Trump made a direct call for violent action,” and the BBC later argued in court that the program was not available in the US.
Next steps and deadlines
Trump faces a court-ordered December 11 deadline to testify under oath, and the sources say the lawsuit could be thrown out if he does not meet that deadline. The BBC said it was “surprised” by the decision but respected the Court’s authority, and the broadcaster said the case would proceed to the next stage. Trump’s legal filings sought a minimum of $5bn in damages each for alleged defamation and violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, but Judge Kuntz dismissed the second claim on Tuesday.
The ruling follows a prior setback in which a judge set December 11 as the deadline to testify under oath after the BBC claimed he was evading efforts to obtain testimony. Trump called the latest ruling a “huge victory against Fake News BBC,” and he also posted that “We will continue to fight all those who try to deceive the American people and defeat them!”