Donald Trump's legal team has rejected a request by the BBC to hand over financial information as part of his $10bn defamation lawsuit against the broadcaster. The US president's lawyers accused the BBC of a 'fishing expedition' after it sought evidence to support Trump's claims of reputational and financial harm from a Panorama documentary about the January 6 Capitol riots.
The BBC had asked for financial papers on the Donald J Trump Revocable Trust, which holds Trump's business interests and assets, including records of income, assets, and properties. Trump's Florida-based lawyers, Brito PLLC, described the request as 'disproportionate' and said it encompassed entities with no connection to the dispute, amounting to 'tens of thousands of documents' within 30 days, which they called 'unreasonable and improper'.
Court filings from May show Trump's team had made 503 document requests, to which the BBC turned over 45,000 pages; Trump had produced none. The lawsuit stems from a Panorama documentary broadcast in October 2024, which spliced together two parts of a speech Trump gave on January 6, 2021, suggesting he told the crowd: 'We're going to walk down to the Capitol and I'll be there with you, and we fight. We fight like hell.' The BBC later retracted the clip and apologised.
Trump's lawyers argue the documentary caused 'direct harm' to his 'brand, properties and business'. In March, the BBC asked a US court to throw out the lawsuit, claiming it would have a 'chilling effect' on reporting and that the court lacked jurisdiction as the documentary was not broadcast in the US or Florida. The dismissal claim is ongoing. The Financial Times reported that Trump's team had also attempted to delay the case and requested a change of judge.
