A federal judge has granted former President Donald Trump permission to file an amended complaint in his $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The lawsuit, filed in December, accuses the BBC of defamation and violating Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.
United States District Judge Roy K. Altman ruled in favor of Trump, allowing his legal team to modify the original lawsuit. The BBC had argued that Trump missed the deadline to amend his complaint and was engaging in legal maneuvering to avoid financial disclosures. The judge's decision renders the BBC's previous motion to dismiss the case moot.
The lawsuit stems from a BBC "Panorama" documentary that allegedly edited remarks made by Trump on January 6th. According to a whistleblower dossier compiled by a BBC communications advisor, the documentary spliced together two separate comments made by Trump nearly an hour apart. This editing created the impression that Trump was urging his supporters to "fight like hell" at the Capitol shortly before the riot.
One excerpt in the documentary showed Trump stating, "We're going to walk down to the Capitol. And we fight — we fight like hell." However, the full context, as presented by Trump's team, shows that the statement about fighting like hell was made approximately 54 minutes after his remarks about peacefully walking to the Capitol to "cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women."
A spokesman for Trump's legal team stated that the ruling is a significant victory, asserting that the BBC intentionally and maliciously doctored Trump's speech in an attempt to interfere with the 2024 Presidential Election. The spokesman added that Trump is holding the BBC and "comrades in the mainstream media" accountable for spreading what they called "Fake News."
Trump is seeking a total of $10 billion in damages, focusing on personal reputational harm. His legal team must file the revised complaint by Monday. The BBC will then have the opportunity to respond with a new motion to dismiss the updated allegations.