Court weighs BBC request for Trump January 6-related records in $10 billion lawsuit
Key Takeaways
- •The BBC is contesting Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit after acknowledging that a report incorrectly said he directly called for violent action during the January 6 riots.
- •Judge James Boasberg said the BBC had a decent chance of obtaining requested materials if it established they were necessary.
- •The BBC is seeking executive-privilege rulings from Jack Smith’s grand jury investigation and sworn testimony from six witnesses.
- •The requested testimony includes Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr., former White House lawyers, a former Pence counsel, and Cassidy Hutchinson.
- •Boasberg is awaiting further clarification of the executive-privilege issue in a Florida court, and the transcripts do not show a ruling on the lawsuit’s merits.
New transcripts in President Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC indicate that a federal judge is considering whether the broadcaster should receive documents and testimony related to Trump’s actions surrounding January 6.
The BBC has acknowledged that a report incorrectly stated that Trump “made a direct call for violent action” during the January 6 riots. The tax-funded broadcaster is contesting Trump’s $10 billion claim. The proceedings were reported by Law \u0026 Crime.
According to newly obtained transcripts, Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said the BBC had made “convincing arguments” and had a “decent chance” of obtaining the requested materials if they proved “necessary.”
BBC attorney Maxwell Mishkin has asked Boasberg to unseal, to the “greatest extent possible,” executive-privilege rulings that rejected Trump’s claims during former special counsel Jack Smith’s grand jury investigation.
The BBC is seeking sworn testimony from six witnesses. They include Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr., former White House lawyers Eric Herschmann and Pat Cipollone, former Vice President Mike Pence’s counsel Greg Jacob, and Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. Hutchinson testified that she saw Meadows burning documents in the White House fireplace.
Mishkin also said the BBC had “been unable to serve” subpoenas on Trump’s eldest son and daughter.
The BBC’s discovery request is intended to challenge Trump’s lawsuit by seeking evidence that could show he cannot “prove that he did not foment or incite the January 6 Capitol riot,” Law \u0026 Crime reported. The broadcaster also argues that Trump cannot revive “already-rejected privilege claims.”
Boasberg indicated that he was open to releasing the materials but was waiting for the executive-privilege issue to be “crystallized” in a Florida court.
The transcript describes arguments over discovery and access to privilege-related materials; it does not report a ruling on the merits of Trump’s $10 billion claim.
“And I think there’s a decent chance you do [get these opinions and orders] because I think you’ve made convincing arguments, but it’s got to be teed up properly,” Boasberg said. “I think you have made a solid case for such release if they are necessary.”
Boasberg added that the applicable “standard requires a need to avoid a possible injustice in another judicial proceeding.”
