Trump may have to disclose details about assets as part of BBC lawsuit

President Trump is expected to come under pressure to make rare disclosures about his properties and business interests as part of his $10bn lawsuit against the BBC, The Guardian understands.Trump is suing the BBC for defamation over a Panorama documentary that spliced together two parts of the president’s address to a rally on 6 January 2021. The BBC has already apologised and said the edit was misleading, but has denied it defamed Trump.In new documents submitted to the Florida court hearing the case, the corporation confirmed it will seek to have the case dismissed – a plan first reported by The Guardian.It will argue that the Florida court lacks “personal jurisdiction” over the corporation, the court venue is “improper” and that Trump has “failed to state a claim”.The corporation also argued that it should not be forced to make any legal disclosures about the documentary and its treatment of Trump before the judge deals with its request to have the case thrown out.However, it is also understood that the way Trump has made his legal claim could also open him up to significant disclosures about his finances, businesses and property empire.Trump’s lawyers argued the BBC had caused “direct harm to his professional and occupational interests, including, without limitation, the value of his brand, properties and businesses”.The BBC is likely to use that claim to demand the release of sensitive details about Trump’s properties and business.Trump has previously been reluctant to disclose information about his finances, repeatedly refusing to disclose his tax returns, as other presidential candidates have done for more than 50 years.His tax returns covering six years were eventually published by a congressional committee in 2022. The documents, covering 2015 to 2020, showed business losses and complicated tax arrangements.Should the case go ahead, it will provide a major test for the BBC’s next director general. Tim Davie, who resigned after the Panorama claims last year, is continuing in the post until his successor is found. The court battle would take place in 2027.The broadcaster has asked the court “to stay all other discovery” – the pre-trial process in which parties gather information – pending the decision on the motion.“The plaintiff will seek broad, objectionable discovery on the merits, implicating the BBC’s entire scope of coverage of Donald J Trump over the past decade or more and claiming injury to his entire business and political profiles,” the BBC’s case states.The broadcaster faced criticism for airing the Panorama episode that featured an edited clip of Trump’s 6 January 2021 address, which it is alleged gave the impression he encouraged supporters to storm the Capitol building in Washington DC.The spliced clips suggested that Trump told the crowd: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol and I’ll be there with you, and we fight. We fight like hell.” The words were taken from sections of his speech almost an hour apart.However, the new court documents show the broadcaster will argue that it did not create, produce or broadcast the documentary in Florida and that Trump’s claim that the documentary was available in the US on the streaming service BritBox is untrue.“Simply clicking on the link that the plaintiff cites for this point shows it is not on BritBox,” the broadcaster’s lawyers said in court documents.The BBC will also claim the president has failed to “plausibly allege” it published the documentary with “actual malice”, which public officials are required to show when filing a suit for defamation in the US.Trump has sought $5bn in damages each on two counts, alleging that the BBC defamed him and that it violated Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.The US president alleged the broadcaster “intentionally, maliciously and deceptively” edited the 6 January speech he gave before the attack on the US Capitol.While the BBC has acknowledged previously that the editing was an “error of judgment” and personally apologised to Trump, it has insisted there is no legal basis for a defamation claim.A BBC spokesperson said: “As we have made clear previously, we will be defending this case. We are not going to make further comment on ongoing legal proceedings.”