Court documents reveal that former US President Donald Trump's legal team has refused to submit financial information requested by British Broadcasting Corporation lawyers in a $10 billion defamation lawsuit Trump filed against the BBC.
Trump alleges that the British public broadcaster deliberately, maliciously, and falsely edited a segment of his speech in a Panorama documentary, creating a misleading impression that he incited the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Trump claims the documentary damaged his personal reputation and caused financial losses, devaluing his brand, real estate, and business assets, leading him to seek $10 billion in damages from the BBC.
In response, the BBC issued a subpoena to the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, which holds all of Trump's business interests and assets and is managed solely by his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., to verify the actual financial impact of the documentary.
The BBC's legal team requested the trust to provide various financial documents detailing asset size, valuations, inventory, and a list of real estate holdings. According to court filings submitted in May, the requested materials include information on nearly 400 operating entities owned or associated with the trust, as well as tax returns.
Multiple legal documents filed in recent weeks have disclosed the ongoing tug-of-war between the two parties over the scope of document disclosure during the evidence discovery phase, while the BBC has been compelled to hand over tens of thousands of related files.
The filings note that the trust's legal team is the same as Trump's legal representatives, and they have raised several objections to the discovery requests. Part of their defense argues that the BBC's actions constitute an unfocused "fishing expedition" and that the trust is not a party to the lawsuit, thus it is not required to substantively comply with evidence requests.
Court documents show Trump's legal team stated that the BBC's demand to obtain tens of thousands of documents from hundreds of non-parties within 30 days is unreasonable and does not comply with legal procedures. They have raised similar objections to other discovery requests from the BBC.
May filings indicate that Trump's lawyers submitted 503 document requests to the BBC, which has provided over 45,000 pages of documents, while Trump's side has not submitted any materials.
The BBC stated in court filings that the likely reason behind Trump's efforts to delay evidence submission is the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust's disregard of the subpoena and refusal to provide any financial information. Despite Trump's claim that the BBC documentary devalued his brand, properties, and businesses, the plaintiff himself has refused to submit any financial materials during the discovery phase.
The BBC has also filed a motion to dismiss Trump's lawsuit, arguing that the relevant documentary was never broadcast in the United States and that the Florida court lacks jurisdiction over the case.
Trump's side has additionally applied to the court to change the presiding judge and postpone the proceedings, partly on the grounds that Magistrate Judge A. Njoya A. Wright previously represented a defendant allegedly connected to Hillary Clinton and was involved in another lawsuit initiated by Trump.
The BBC has opposed this, arguing that Trump's request to change the judge is baseless and relies solely on subjective assumptions of judicial bias.
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