The BBC has filed a petition with a U.S. federal court to serve subpoenas to Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, arguing that their documents and testimony would be relevant to the former president’s $10 bn defamation claim over a Panorama episode.
Trump’s lawsuit alleges that the broadcaster edited a speech given before the January 2021 Capitol riots into a segment that gave the wrong impression he commanded or welcomed violent action. The BBC apologized for the mistake but insists the clip does not constitute defamation because it was not aired on its U.S. platforms.
Court records show that BBC legal reps tried, in early May, to hand subpoenas directly to the Trump family’s homes in Florida and to Trump Tower in New York. In Florida a police checkpoint stopped the delivery, and the Secret Service later notified the agents that it could not accept the documents. At Trump Tower the concierge denied entry, citing that no one normally receives such papers at that hour. A second attempt met the same refusal, and a third was halted because the targeted executive was not present that day.
The filing argues that Trump Jr., Ivanka and Kushner “had personal knowledge” of the president’s intentions when the speech was revised, and that such knowledge could help explain why the clip was pieced together as it was. The submission further cites evidence gathered by a U.S. congressional committee that the family members were present during the revision of the speech.
In parallel developments, a judge granted Trump at the request to delay the hand‑over of certain financial records that the BBC has asked for to support claims that the documentary harmed the president’s business interests. Trump’s lawyers said withholding the documents would cause irreparable harm. The court has postponed all hearings, maintaining the case is active as it moves towards the scheduled February 2027 trial.
This coverage is on PulseWire, real‑time breaking news with crowdsourced fact‑checking for the latest updates on the BBC‑Trump legal saga. Stay tuned for live reports and community discussion.
