GB News was interrupted for a breaking news alert on Monday as presenter Ben Leo shared an update on a lawsuit filed over a BBC programme. The BBC has requested that President Donald Trump hand over his phone records, private schedules and daily diaries from around the time of the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, as part of its defence against Trump's $10 billion lawsuits over a Panorama programme.
BBC Seeks Trump's Communications
Anchor Ben Leo said the BBC is "seeking access to the president's communications," adding: "But Trump's lawyers, they've hit back, accusing the Beebs of trying to put the president on trial over January 6 through the back door." The BBC's legal team is asking for documents between November 3, 2020, and January 20, 2021, including phone logs and schedules.
Details of the Lawsuit
The lawsuit centres on BBC's Panorama programme titled "Trump: A Second Chance?", which was broadcast on October 28, 2025. The programme used clips from Trump's January 6 speech that were edited from different parts of the address. It spliced together a section of Trump’s speech on the day of the riots, in which he urged supporters to walk to the Capitol building, with a later segment of the address in which he urged them to "fight like hell."
A BBC spokesperson said: "The BBC holds itself to the highest editorial standards. This matter has been brought to our attention, and we are now looking into it." In November, they apologised for the edit, saying: "We accept that our edit unintentionally created the impression that we were showing a single continuous section of the speech, rather than excerpts from different points in the speech, and that this gave the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action."
Trump's $10bn Claim
Trump is seeking up to $10 billion, including roughly $5 billion for alleged defamation and $5 billion under a Florida unfair-trade-practices claim. The BBC is also asking Trump's team to "identify all persons with whom [Trump] had communicated regarding any aspect of the January 6, 2021 'Stop the Steal' rally, including but not limited to planning the event, your January 6, 2021 speech at the event, and discussions about the event after the fact."
Legal Battle Ahead
Alejandro Brito, a lawyer representing Trump's legal team, said: "Defendants are attempting to use this action as a vehicle to conduct a trial as to the events that occurred on January 6. Defendant's attempts to defend themselves do not entitle them to carte-blanche discovery." The lawsuit against the BBC is set to go to trial in February 2027.
