Trump asks court to block BBC’s bid to subpoena Ivanka, Don Jr and Jared Kushner in $10B lawsuit

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump is urging a federal court to toss out the BBC’s latest effort to subpoena his close family members in connection with a $10 billion defamation lawsuit over a BBC documentary. On Friday, August 21, Trump’s attorneys slammed the BBC’s move, calling it a “politically charged discovery campaign” aimed at forcing Donald Trump Jr, Ivanka Trump, and Jared Kushner to testify.

His lawyers told the court to deny the request, insisting that the BBC is pushing far beyond what the case actually covers. They called the subpoenas an outright overreach.

Origins of the lawsuit

Trump’s team appealed to the court to reject the BBC’s motion, comparing it to a fishing expedition that goes beyond the scope of the case.

“This case concerns a narrow wrong, the BBC’s deliberate splicing together of two passages of President Trump’s January 6, 2021, speech spoken nearly fifty-five minutes apart,” Friday’s court filing said. “Rather than litigate that narrow claim, the BBC has attempted to pursue a sweeping investigation disguised as discovery.”

Back in December, Trump said he’d take the BBC to court over an episode of Panorama, their documentary series that took a close look at his efforts to return to the presidency.

The episode put a spotlight on January 6, 2021, the day Congress met to certify the 2020 election. Trump called the results fraudulent, even as the evidence said otherwise.

That morning, he stood outside the White House, telling his supporters the election was stolen. Later, some of those people stormed the Capitol.

The Panorama episode spliced together two different parts of the speech, making it look like one seamless quote.

Critics jumped on this, accusing the program of misrepresentation. The BBC apologized for the edit and pulled the episode from all its platforms.

Still, Trump filed a defamation lawsuit. The broadcaster denies any wrongdoing and says it will fight the case. Now, the case is underway in federal court in southern Florida.

Subpoena and privilege dispute

As part of its defense, the BBC has sought testimony from figures close to Trump to establish his thoughts and actions on the day of the January 6 attack.

It pointed out that both Donald Trump Jr and Ivanka Trump were present at their father’s speech and that they spoke to the president and his inner circle as the violence erupted at the Capitol.

Text messages released by the US Congress show Donald Trump Jr urged his father’s chief of staff to “condemn this s**t”, a fact cited in the BBC’s motion.

While Kushner was not present at the White House, the BBC maintains that his role as Trump’s adviser would also help establish the facts of that day.

The Florida court has not yet ruled on the BBC's subpoena request, while the BBC continues to press for the entire lawsuit to be dismissed.