BBC demands Trump hand over personal text messages in bid to prove he incited Jan 6 riots
BBC demands Trump hand over personal text messages in bid to prove he incited Jan 6 riots
BBC demands Trump hand over personal text messages in £7.5bn lawsuit
The broadcaster is seeking messages between Trump and his advisers in the hours before the storming of the US Capitol
The BBC has demanded that Donald Trump hand over his personal text messages in a £10bn (£7.5bn) defamation lawsuit over his alleged involvement in the January 6 riots in Washington.
The broadcaster’s lawyers are seeking to prove in court that the US president should be held responsible for encouraging his supporters to storm the US Capitol following his 2020 election defeat.
In their legal document, the BBC said: “In [his] lawsuit, President Trump claims that the BBC defamed him by editing his speech at the White House Ellipse on January 6, 2021 in a manner that he claims conveyed the allegedly false implication that he fomented the violence that followed at the Capitol.
“Thus, as the BBC explained and the government does not dispute, President Trump cannot prevail in his case if he cannot establish the falsity of that alleged implication.”