BBC asks U.S. court to help get testimony from Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner and Don Jr., saying they have ‘personal knowledge’ on defamation claims

The BBC asked a U.S. court for help in getting documents and testimony from members of U.S. President Donald Trump ‘s family in connection with his $10-billion defamation lawsuit against the British broadcaster, a court document showed.

Lawyers for the BBC argued that Ivanka Trump, her husband Jared Kushner, and Donald Trump, Jr. have “personal knowledge” and likely have records relevant to elements of Trump’s claims against the broadcaster, according to a filing Friday in federal court in Florida.

The broadcaster has been unable to serve subpoenas because the three have Secret Service protection and other security personnel around them, the filing says.

Trump filed the lawsuit in December seeking $10 billion in damages from the BBC, accusing it of defamation as well as deceptive and unfair trade practices.

The allegations center on the way a 2024 documentary edited a speech Trump gave on Jan. 6, 2021, before protesters attacked the Capitol in Washington. The lawsuit accuses the BBC of “splicing together two entirely separate parts of President Trump’s speech” to “intentionally misrepresent the meaning of what ...