The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has told a judge that a documentary at the heart of a $10 billion defamation lawsuit filed by former U.S. President Donald Trump, while containing one misleading edit, remains fair.
On Monday, the BBC asked a federal judge in Miami to pause the evidence exchange in the case until a ruling is issued on its motion to dismiss the lawsuit, which is expected in March.
The BBC also stated that if the lawsuit is not dismissed, it will seek to have the case moved from Florida to New York, arguing that it "did not create, produce, or broadcast" the documentary in the state of Florida.
Trump sued the BBC last month, alleging that a misleading edit in a documentary aired ahead of the 2024 U.S. election created the impression that he directly incited violence during a speech preceding the January 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.
BBC Chairman Samir Shah acknowledged on November 10th that a clip of Trump's speech, edited for a 2024 Panorama program, mistakenly gave the "impression of a direct call to arms." The broadcaster issued another apology days later but rejected Trump's demand for compensation.
According to the documents filed on Monday, Trump's case fails to meet the high bar required for defamation claims involving public figures, which necessitates proving "actual malice"—meaning the allegedly defamatory statements were made knowingly or with reckless disregard for the truth.
The BBC's lawyers wrote, "The clip featuring Plaintiff’s January 6 speech is less than 15 seconds long in an hour-long documentary that includes extensive coverage of Trump supporters and balanced reporting on his campaign for re-election, and thus plainly fails to allege actual malice."
Trump's legal team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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