The BBC has insisted Donald Trump can’t sue for $5billion as its misleading Panorama edit did not air in the US.
Director-General Tim Davie dramatically resigned last week alongside CEO of News Deobrah Turness following criticism of a 12-second doctored version of one of the President’s speeches.
Lawyers for the broadcaster have now submitted a response to Mr Trump’s legal threat, claiming he has no case.
The BBC later said it was ready to apologise to the President after admitting an ‘error of judgment’.
But the corporation has now stated the documentary, Trump, a Second Chance?, which aired in the run-up to the Presidential election, did not show in the US because the BBC had no rights to broadcast it, The Times reports.
US audiences were also unable to watch via iPlayer because the programme was ‘geo-blocked’ by the broadcaster.
The documentary suggested Mr Trump had made a ‘direct call for violent action’ as two separate sections of his speech in the run-up to the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021 were spliced together in a 12-second clip.
BBC lawyers have argued Mr Trump could not have suffered ‘overwhelming … reputation harm’ – as he ended up winning the presidential election.
They added the edit had not been done in malice and the clip was at odds with the rest of the hour-long programme which sought to show the reasons the President’s supporters had voted for him.
Mr Trump has said he will bring his claim in the state of Florida.
He doubled down this week on his threat to sue for ‘corrupt’ editing, after his lawyer initially wrote to the BBC with a $1billion claim.
A spokesman for the corporation said since the first threat there had been ‘no further contact from President Trump’s lawyers at this point’.
They added: ‘Our position remains the same.’
The BBC also said it had no plans to settle with Mr Trump – despite him having previously reached out of court agreements with US media outlets including Disney’s ABC, Paramount’s CBS and Meta, the owner of Facebook.
On Saturday Mr Trump promised in an interview with GB News to raise the issue with Keir Starmer.
He said: ‘I think I have an obligation to do it – this was so egregious.’
Yesterday it was revealed a top BBC chief had urged her staff to ‘check in’ with colleagues who work in news following the ‘attacks’ over the Panorama scandal.
Kate Phillips, a frontrunner to succeed Tim Davie as Director General, sent a gushing internal email to rally her ‘incredible’ troops last Friday.
The chief content officer sought to raise morale as Mr Trump threatened to sue the broadcaster for up to $5billion after it admitted doctoring footage of his speech.
In an email seen by the Mail, following the resignations of Mr Davie and CEO of News Deborah Turness, Ms Phillips wrote: ‘Well, we got through the week.
‘Thank you so much to everyone who’s been in touch.
‘I’ve really appreciated your candour, and what has come through loud and clear is how passionately you care about the BBC and the work you do, but also the understandable upset and frustration at what has happened. I feel the same.’
She picked up on Lisa Nandy’s address to Parliament where the Culture Secretary ‘highlighted the danger of sustained attacks against the BBC’.
‘Of course we’re always utterly accountable, and concerns over editorial failings should always be raised,’ Ms Phillips wrote.
‘But that should be in the spirit of making the best public service broadcaster in the world even better.
‘As Tim said on the all-staff call earlier this week, these times are difficult for all of us, but if we make the case for the BBC and focus on delivering for audiences we will get through them – and we will thrive.’
Ms Phillips praised the BBC as providing ‘the best journalism in the world’, adding: ‘Our friends and colleagues in News are doing an extraordinary job – please take a moment to check in with those you know there.
‘And if you still have questions, I’d encourage you to keep talking to the senior leaders in your areas.’
