President Donald Trump has issued a statement after a federal judge ruled that his lawsuit against the BBC can proceed, partially denying the British national broadcaster's motion to dismiss the case.
Federal judge Jeffrey T Kuntz made the ruling on Tuesday that the president's $10bn (£7.5 billion) defamation lawsuit can continue. Trump is seeking substantial damages in a Florida court over the editing of a 2024 Panorama documentary about the US Capitol riots.
Documentary Editing Under Scrutiny
The documentary faced criticism for giving the impression Trump had encouraged his supporters to storm the Capitol building on January 6 2021 after he lost the 2020 White House race to Joe Biden. The BBC had been seeking to have the case thrown out, warning of the “chilling effect” it would have on “robust reporting on public figures and events”.
In a statement made on Truth Social, the president took to social media to hail the decision, saying: "A Huge Victory against Fake News BBC, a terrible abuser of the truth, just handed down by highly respected District Court Judge, Jeffrey T. Kuntz, of the Southern District of Florida."
Judge's Ruling and BBC Response
In his ruling, Judge Kuntz wrote: "Here, the news entity created the story. BBC admitted as much by confirming it had edited a video to make it appear as though President Trump made a statement he never made."
A BBC spokesperson said in a statement: “We are surprised by this decision but respect the Court’s authority and note the case will now proceed to the next stage. We remain confident in our position and will continue to respond through the proper legal process. It would be inappropriate to comment further while proceedings are ongoing.”
The allegations against the documentary led the then-BBC director-general Tim Davie to announce his resignation. BBC chairman Samir Shah apologised on behalf of the broadcaster over an “error of judgment” and accepted the editing of the programme gave “the impression of a direct call for violent action”.
Legal Standards and Next Steps
The Trump-appointed Florida district court judge wrote in his ruling: “Accepting the allegations in the complaint as true, the Court finds Trump plausibly pled damages where Trump alleges a defamatory documentary released toward the election caused reputational harm. It would be difficult for the Court to accept a different framing without completely negating the significance and fragility of political elections.”
The ruling did not decide whether Mr Trump’s claims were proven. The judge said that “Trump’s allegations regarding BBC’s departure from journalistic standards are more than enough to plausibly alleged more than mere negligence”. While the judge determined that Trump had “sufficiently pleaded” that the BBC acted with actual malice, the legal standard for a public figure to win a defamation case, he will have to actually prove they did so at trial.
The judge also dismissed Trump’s claim that the BBC violated Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. Judge Kuntz decided that the president will have to prove that he suffered “actual damages” from the airing of the documentary, which was not broadcast in Florida. The BBC has been ordered to file a response to the ruling by December 1. In late October, a Florida magistrate judge ruled that Trump will have to sit for a deposition conducted by lawyers for the BBC by December 11, or be hit with sanctions.
