BBC seeks to dismiss Trump’s $10-billion defamation lawsuit

The BBC will file a motion to dismiss U.S. President Donald Trump‘s $10-billion lawsuit over its editing of a speech that made it appear he had directed supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol.

Court documents published late on Monday showed the broadcaster would argue that the court in Florida lacked personal jurisdiction in the case because it did not broadcast the program in the state, and that the president could not prove damages because he was re-elected after it aired.

Trump said Britain’s publicly owned broadcaster defamed him by splicing together parts of a January 6, 2021, speech, including one section where he told supporters to march on the Capitol and another where he said “fight like hell.”

It omitted a section in which he called for peaceful protest.

Trump’s lawsuit alleges the BBC violated a Florida law that bars deceptive and unfair trade practices. He is seeking at least $5 billion in damages for each of the lawsuit’s two counts.

BBC asks court to stay the discovery phase

The BBC has apologized for the editing which appeared on its Panorama documentary program but said it would defend the case.

The court document said that by a March 17 deadline, the broadcaster would move to dismiss the complaint. The document said the BBC would argue that Trump could not plausibly allege that the documentary was published with “actual malice.”

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The BBC, which is funded by a mandatory licence fee on all television-watching households, also said the documentary was not available in the U.S. on the streaming service BritBox, as claimed in Trump’s lawsuit.

It asked the court to stay the merits-based discovery phase, when both sides can obtain evidence from other parties in the lawsuit.

The BBC said engaging in unbounded merits-based discovery while the motion to dismiss was pending would subject the defendants to “considerable burdens and costs” that will be unnecessary if the motion is granted.

“As Plaintiff failed to plead actual damages, claiming only vague ‘harm to his professional and occupational interests,’ his claim fails,” the BBC document stated.