Trump's inner circle subpoenaed by BBC in US libel lawsuit

Erik Larson, Bloomberg News on Jun 5, 2026

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WASHINGTON — The British Broadcasting Corp. issued a wave of subpoenas to dozens of members of President Donald Trump’s inner circle as part of its defense in his $10 billion defamation lawsuit, raising fresh questions about Trump’s speech before the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

The BBC in recent weeks sent 47 subpoenas to members of Trump’s family and Cabinet, as well as the Department of Justice and other federal agencies, seeking information about the president’s intent and state-of-mind before the speech. Recipients include Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller and Michael Flynn.

Trump sued in December over a 2024 BBC documentary that included a misleading edit of a fiery speech he made shortly before the assault by his supporters, making it appear that he’d made a direct call for violence. The BBC apologized in November, but failed to prevent Trump’s suit.

The news outlet moved to dismiss the suit in March but has continued to build a defense should the case go to trial.

In a joint filing Wednesday in federal court in Florida, lawyers for Trump and the BBC requested a hearing on the subpoenas. Trump argues the demands are part of a “fishing expedition,” while the BBC says Trump’s lawsuit opened the door to the requests for information about his conduct.

To win the case, Trump “must prove that he did not foment or incite the January 6 Capitol riot,” the BBC said. “Plaintiff has placed that question directly at issue in bringing this libel lawsuit – he cannot now prevent defendants from seeking records that would shed light on his true knowledge, intent, and state of mind in delivering his speech.”

Trump’s lawsuit centers on a 12-second clip of the speech he delivered shortly before Capitol attack, part of a failed effort by his supporters to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election. The edit, part of a documentary about Trump’s supporters, spliced together two parts of the speech in a way that made it appear as if he’d made a direct call for violence that day.

The subpoenas seek a wide range of information, including all emails, text messages and other communications about the “Stop the Steal” rally and Trump’s general effort to challenge the result of the 2020 presidential election, as well as all records that were provided by each recipient to federal investigators.

“The BBC is liable to President Trump for intentionally and maliciously defaming him by distorting and manipulating his speech,” a spokesman for Trump’s legal team said in a statement. “No amount of attempted legal maneuvers can change that fact.”

The BBC declined to comment on the filing.

Kevin O’Brien, a former federal prosecutor and defense attorney who isn’t involved in the case, said the BBC strategy appears to be a “smart tactic” to refocus the dispute back onto Trump’s conduct and the events of Jan. 6.

“Of course, enforcing 47 subpoenas, with all those depositions and motions to compel, is an expensive proposition, and time-consuming too,” he said.

The subpoenas reveal that the BBC is building its defense in part around an argument that Trump’s conduct that day wasn’t far off from what the misleading edit suggested and therefore was not “materially false.”

That’s one of several arguments the BBC is making for why the case should be tossed. The BBC also pointed to the findings for Special Counsel Jack Smith, who investigated Trump’s alleged election interference and his role in the riot. The news outlet cited a portion of Smith’s report that said his office “determined that there were reasonable arguments to be made that Mr. Trump’s Ellipse Speech incited the violence at the Capitol on January 6.”

Smith ultimately charged Trump with multiple crimes surrounding his alleged effort to overturn the result of the election. The Justice Department dropped the case after Trump won reelection in 2024, citing a standing policy against prosecuting a sitting president.

The Panorama program at the center of the case, which aired before the 2024 presidential election, included a clip that made it appear that Trump had told his supporters they should “walk down to the Capitol” and “fight like hell” before the riot. In fact, Trump said they should “cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women.” The “fight like hell” remark was from a different part of the speech.

BBC Chair Samir Shah acknowledged in November, before Trump sued, that the edited footage wrongly gave “the impression of a direct call for violent action.” Days later, the broadcaster issued a second apology, but rejected the president’s demand for compensation.

The lawsuit claims the edit was part of a pattern of misleading reporting about Trump. The suit includes one claim of alleged defamation and one accusing the BBC of violating a Florida trade practices law. Trump is seeking at least $5 billion in damages for each count, plus other costs.