US judge rejects BBC bid to dismiss Trump defamation suit

INTERNATIONAL BUREAU —A federal judge allowed US President Donald Trump’s multi-billion dollar defamation suit against the BBC to proceed on Tuesday, rejecting a bid by the British broadcaster to dismiss the case. Trump has accused the BBC of deceptively editing a documentary to make it seem as if he was inciting violence when he told supporters to m arch on the US Capitol on Jan 6, 2021.

He has sought at least $5 billion each for one claim of defamation and a separate claim under a Florida consumer protection law. US District Judge Jeffrey T. Kuntz rejected the BBC ’s bid to dismiss the defamation suit, but tossed the Florida protection law claim. “Whether President Trump can prove these claims and establish he sustained damages at summary judgement or trial is left for another day,” Kuntz wrote in a 40-page ruling.

The BBC documentary at issue spliced together two separate sections of Trump’s speech on January 6, 2021, making it appear that he had explicitly urged supporters to attack the US Capitol. While the BBC has apologised for the incident, which prompted the resignation of multiple senior executives, the broadcaster has denied it caused Trump any real injury. “Given the time disparity between the two statements, the distance itself tends toward a plausible inference that BBC knew or should have known that the segment they were creating would not and could not have been a truthful statement,” Kuntz said in his ruling. “This was not trimming around the edges but creating something different than what was stated in the speech.” Trump, in a Truth Social post, hailed the Kuntz’s ruling as “A Huge Victory.” “We will continue fighting against, and defeating, all of those who try to deceive the American People!” he added.

Last month, the president faced a setback in the case when a magistrate judge ordered him to give a deposition by Dec 11, after the BBC claimed he was dodging their efforts to get sworn testimony. Trump risks sanctions if he fails to attend the deposition by then, including the potential dismissal of his lawsuit, the court said.