The BBC has filed a motion in a US court to dismiss a $10bn lawsuit brought by US President Donald Trump over an edited documentary clip.The broadcaster claimed that the case could have a “chilling effect” on robust reporting.
Mr Trump’s 33-page complaint relates to the corporation’s editing of a speech he made on 6 January 2021, the day his supporters stormed the US Capitol building.Clips were spliced together from sections of the his address to make it appear that he told supporters that he was going to walk with them to “fight like hell”.Among the parts cut out was a section where Mr Trump said he wanted supporters to demonstrate peacefully.
It aired in the documentary Trump: A Second Chance?, which was broadcast by the BBC the week before last year’s US election.

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A view of the entrance to BBC Broadcasting House in London. File pic: PA

Initially, Mr Trump had threatened to sue for $1bn, but the lawsuit filed in Florida on 16 December is for 10 times more – and more than double the annual revenue raised by the BBC’s licence fee in 2023-24.
The claim seeks $5bn in damages for defamation, and a further $5bn for unfair trade practices.A trial date has been provisionally set for February next year.
The BBC argued that the case should be thrown out because the documentary was never aired in Florida or the US.In a statement, the broadcaster said: “We have therefore challenged jurisdiction of the Florida court and filed a motion to dismiss the president’s claim.”In a 34-page document, the BBC also argued that Mr Trump failed to “plausibly allege facts showing that defendants knowingly intended to create a false impression”.

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Outgoing Director General of the BBC Tim Davie walks outside Portcullis House. File pic: Reuters

Mr Trump’s case “falls well short of the high bar of actual malice”, it said.The document also claimed that “the chilling effect is clear” when Mr Trump is “among the most powerful and high-profile individuals in the world, on whose activities the BBC reports every day”.Read more:What’s in the lawsuit and how has the BBC responded?Trump sues BBC for $10bn in lawsuit

The BBC’s chair, Samir Shah, has already apologised to Mr Trump over the edit of the speech, and admitted that it gave “the impression of a direct call for violent action”.However, the corporation rejects claims that it defamed him.The furore triggered the resignations of the BBC’s top executive, and its head of news, last year.