Trump asks court to reject BBC request for subpoenas to his relatives
US President Donald Trump asked a federal judge in Miami to reject the BBC's request for assistance in obtaining testimony and documents from three of his relatives as part of a $10 billion lawsuit against the British broadcaster. This was reported by Fortune.
BBC's request
Trump's lawyers said in a court filing that the BBC is trying to gain “politically motivated leverage” over the president through subpoenas to his daughter Ivanka Trump, son-in-law Jared Kushner, and son Donald Trump Jr.
US District Judge Jeffrey C. Kuntz, who is handling the case in Miami, did not immediately rule on the dispute. Kuntz, whom Trump nominated for the judgeship, received the case from another judge less than a week before the publication of the report. The reason for the change of judge was not stated in court documents. The previous judge scheduled the case for consideration in February.
Attempts to serve subpoenas
According to the president's lawyers, in May, an employee acting on behalf of the BBC tried to serve subpoenas on Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner at their residence. There, he met US Secret Service agents, who said they were not authorized to accept the documents.
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Several days later, the employee also visited Trump Tower in New York to serve a subpoena on Donald Trump Jr., but the attempt was unsuccessful. Last week, the BBC asked the court to allow subpoenas to be sent to Trump's relatives by registered mail instead of being served in person.
Lawsuit against the broadcaster
Trump's lawsuit, filed in December, concerns the BBC's editing of excerpts from his January 6, 2021 speech near the White House. On that day, a crowd of Trump supporters attacked the Capitol, trying to prevent Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden's election victory.
The lawsuit alleges that the BBC combined separate excerpts of the speech, deliberately distorting the meaning of Trump's words. It also claims that the broadcaster aired a documentary a week before the 2024 presidential election in order to influence its outcome to Trump's detriment. The BBC apologized to Trump for the misleading edit but denies committing defamation.
