BBC Seeks To Subpoena Trump Kin In Defamation Lawsuit

The BBC is seeking to subpoena President Donald Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr., daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner for testimony and records in Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit, arguing the three “without question have personal knowledge” of Trump’s intentions surrounding his Jan. 6, 2021, speech.

In a Friday filing in federal court in Miami, BBC lawyers asked a judge to authorize alternative methods for serving the subpoenas, saying Secret Service protection has blocked efforts to deliver them in person. “The Third Parties have personal knowledge and likely have possession, custody, or control of records relevant to multiple elements of Plaintiff’s claims against the BBC,” the broadcaster’s lawyers wrote.

Trump sued the BBC in December over a 2024 documentary that spliced together portions of his Jan. 6 speech delivered nearly an hour apart. He alleges the edit falsely implied he “incited” or “fomented” the attack on the Capitol. The BBC has apologized for the edit but denies defamation, contending that Trump’s intent is directly relevant to whether the documentary materially misrepresented his remarks.

A prior discovery order, quoted in the filing, stated the broadcaster is entitled to investigate Trump’s “intention behind the speech and anything that bears on the impression his audience could have reasonably obtained in listening to the speech,” including “the extent of any resulting injury or harm.”

Trump Jr. and Ivanka were both in the Oval Office as their father revised the speech, including around the time of his unsuccessful effort to persuade then-Vice President Mike Pence not to certify the 2020 election results, the BBC said, citing their House Jan. 6 committee testimony. The two then traveled to the Ellipse and “personally witnessed” the speech and the crowd’s response. Ivanka later returned to the White House and observed her father’s reaction as reports of violence emerged. Trump Jr. contacted White House chief of staff Mark Meadows during the attack, urging him to have his father “condemn this s**t. Asap,” and later spoke directly with the president.

The relatives’ testimony could also test Trump’s claim that the documentary damaged his reputation. They have “personal knowledge of Plaintiff’s reputation before and after the Documentary,” BBC lawyers wrote, an issue bearing on whether the disputed edit “actually and proximately caused him the reputational harm he alleges.” 

That argument gained significance after Trump last week won permission to amend his lawsuit, dropping claims of damage to his businesses and brand and narrowing the case to personal reputational harm. U.S. District Judge Roy Altman has said the amendment could reduce potential damages while leaving open how much financial discovery the BBC may still obtain.

BBC lawyers said they repeatedly sought Trump’s cooperation without success and now seek the “modest relief” of alternative service methods, including certified mail to the relatives’ homes or workplaces or through Trump’s attorneys.

Judge Altman has scheduled a two-week trial for February 2027.