LONDON, Feb 12 - A U.S. district court has declined a request from the British Broadcasting Corporation to put a hold on discovery in the $10 billion lawsuit lodged by Donald Trump, court documents show.
The lawsuit centers on an edited BBC broadcast that, the complaint alleges, spliced together segments of the former president's January 6, 2021 speech in a way that made it appear he directed supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol. The amended sequence cited in the complaint reportedly joined sections where he told supporters to march on the Capitol and where he said "fight like hell," while omitting a longer passage in which he called for peaceful protest.
Mr. Trump has sued the publicly owned broadcaster for defamation and for violations of a Florida statute prohibiting deceptive and unfair trade practices. The complaint seeks at least $5 billion in damages for each of the lawsuit's two counts, a total of at least $10 billion.
U.S. District Judge Roy Altman denied the BBC's application on Wednesday to stay the merits-based discovery phase - the part of litigation when both sides may obtain evidence from other parties in the case. According to the documents, the judge characterized the broadcaster's motion as premature and concluded it had not demonstrated it would be prejudiced if discovery were allowed to proceed.
In a separate order, the judge scheduled a two-week trial to begin in February 2027.
The BBC declined to comment. The broadcaster has previously indicated it will defend the litigation and move to dismiss the complaint. In its stated defense, the BBC has argued the court lacks jurisdiction because it did not broadcast the programme in Florida. It also contends the plaintiff cannot establish damages because he was re-elected after the programme aired.
Contextual note: The documents filed in court describe the discovery phase and the BBC's contention that a stay is unwarranted; the judge's rulings set the procedural timeline toward a February 2027 trial.