A judge in Florida has ruled that President Donald Trump must provide financial records requested by the BBC as the corporation defends a $10bn (£7.5bn) defamation claim against it, BBC News reported.
The order was made at the first hearing in the case, which concerns an episode of Panorama that edited together separate parts of Trump’s speech from 6 January 2021, the day of the US Capitol riot.
Judge Enjoliqué Lett granted a request from the BBC’s legal team to compel the release of financial documents held by the Donald J Trump Revocable Trust, which Trump set up to manage his businesses while serving as president. The ruling, made at a hearing in Miami on Tuesday, may still be appealed.
BBC News reported that the decision represents a partial success for the corporation as it seeks evidence relating to Trump’s claim that he suffered financial loss because of the Panorama edit. The judge issued a split decision on a separate BBC request for documents connected to the Capitol riot.
The case is currently in the discovery stage, during which both sides exchange records that may be used as evidence. Lawyers for the BBC said the corporation had provided 87,000 pages of material, while Trump’s side had produced 735 pages, which they described as including news articles and other material taken from the internet.
Charles Tobin, representing the BBC, said the process had been “entirely one-sided”. Alejandro Brito, acting for Trump, described the BBC’s document requests as “oppressive” and “sweeping”.
Trump’s legal team also objected to BBC requests for records concerning his conversations with aides about the Capitol riot, as well as subpoenas issued to federal agencies and former officials. They accused the BBC of pursuing a “fishing expedition” intended to “harass” former officials.
A significant part of Trump’s argument focused on a letter sent last year by BBC chairman Samir Shah to the US president. In the letter, Shah apologised for the Panorama clip, saying it had unintentionally created the mistaken impression that Trump had directly called for violent action. Brito characterised the letter as a “concession” and an “admission” by the BBC.
The BBC has asked for the case to be dismissed in full, arguing that the documentary was not broadcast in the US. The court has not yet ruled on that request.
