BBC Demands Trump’s Phone Records in $10 Billion Lawsuit
The BBC just called Trump’s bluff. As Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the British broadcaster moves through discovery, the BBC’s lawyers are demanding something Trump’s team clearly didn’t expect: his personal phone logs, calendars, and diaries from November 2020 through January 20, 2021.
The lawsuit centers on a Panorama documentary that combined two separate parts of Trump’s January 6th speech. Trump claims it was edited to make him look bad. The BBC says it will defend the case fully, and it isn’t backing down.
Now the BBC wants to know exactly who Trump was talking to and what he was planning in the lead up to the Capitol riot. Lawyers are asking for a list of everyone Trump communicated with about the rally, his speech, and what happened afterward.
There’s a reason that request matters. Court records already show that more than 100 people charged in connection with January 6th said they stormed the Capitol because they believed Trump told them to.
Trump’s legal team has refused to hand over financial records tied to his trust, calling the BBC’s requests a “fishing expedition.” Meanwhile, the BBC has already turned over more than 45,000 documents during discovery. Trump’s side has turned over none.
A British public broadcaster is now positioned to force one of the most consequential records demands of Trump’s presidency into open court. If he has nothing to hide, the documents should be easy to produce.