President Donald Trump plans to rely on the BBC’s own internal emails in his £7 billion defamation lawsuit against the broadcaster, according to court documents.
The emails are expected to feature in Trump’s case over a 12-second edit in a Panorama programme, which combined separate sections of his January 6, 2021 speech.
The documentary examined Trump’s political comeback and aired just weeks before the 2024 US presidential election.
In the edited sequence, Trump appeared to say: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol… and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.” However, the remarks about fighting were delivered more than 50 minutes apart in the original speech. Trump argues that bringing them together falsely suggested he had urged the crowd to use violence.
His lawyers are expected to cite an apology from BBC chairman Samir Shah as evidence that the programme was created with malice.
They also plan to present emails showing that the documentary’s producers circulated viewing links to people in the United States, supporting the argument that the programme could be seen by an American audience.
To succeed under US libel law, Trump must establish that the programme was published with actual malice before the edited passage can be deemed defamatory.
Under that standard, a statement is libellous when it is published with knowledge that it is false or with reckless disregard for whether it is true or false.
President Donald Trump speaks at the “Stop The Steal” rally on January 6, 2021, in Washington, DC
Internal BBC emails are expected to be used in Trump’s defamation case over a Panorama episode that combined two parts of his speech
Trump’s lawyers will point to an apology from BBC chairman Samir Shah as they seek to show the programme was produced maliciously, a key requirement for a defamation claim
The legal team must also show that the programme was viewed in the United States, despite being officially available only in Britain.
Trump filed the lawsuit last December after the BBC’s editing of the two sections of his speech came to light.
The backlash that followed resulted in the resignations of Tim Davie, then the BBC’s director-general, and Deborah Turness, the corporation’s news chief executive.
Trump rejected Shah’s apology and is continuing the case against the broadcaster in the US courts.
In a letter sent to Trump last year, Shah said the documentary had “unintentionally created the impression of a single, continuous section of your speech” and left “the mistaken impression that you had made a direct call for violent action.” He described the editing as “an editorial error” that “should not have happened” and said the BBC had publicly apologised for the “error of judgment.”
According to The Times, Trump’s lawyers are using the chairman’s words to argue that the BBC acted with “actual malice” in defaming the US president.
The BBC maintains that Shah’s apology made clear the editing mistake was accidental rather than deliberate.
Trump’s attorney, Alejandro Brito, told a hearing that the BBC “vehemently deny that the splicing was done with actual malice or with intent.” He argued, however, that the corporation’s position was “entirely belied by the words of the chairman of the BBC.”
Pro-Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol after the January 6, 2021 rally
President Trump arrives at the ‘Stop The Steal’ Rally on January 6, 2021 in Washington DC
Supporters of Donald Trump fight with law enforcement outside the US Capitol in 2021
The BBC denies defamation and argued that the case should be thrown out because the documentary was broadcast for a UK audience, not the US.
But the President’s lawyers allege that internal BBC emails show that staff shared the documentary to people outside of the UK.
Producers shared links to the documentary with a select group of US residents who were involved in the documentary.
One email sent by a representative of October Films, with a BBC staff member, included instructions on how to use a virtual private network (VPN) to access BBC iPlayer from outside Britain.
A VPN tricks websites into believing you are browsing from another country.
The BBC said it had strict rules to prevent iPlayer being watched outside the UK therefore any viewing in the US would be unauthorised.
The emails also show that BBC editors were considering titling the documentary Wanted: President Trump? with a mock-up of a wanted poster in the emails.
The Panorama programme was eventually titled Trump: A second chance?
The BBC says records will show the President’s wealth has climbed by more than $1billion in the past year, contradicting his claim that the documentary cost him money.
A spokesman for the BBC said: ‘We have said throughout we will robustly defend the case against us. The documentary was never aired anywhere in the US, including the state of Florida. We are continuing to challenge the jurisdiction of the Florida court to hear this claim, and we have filed a Motion to Dismiss the President’s recently amended claim.’
