And then, furthermore, to add injury to insult, the BBC aired this deceptively edited program on October 28, 2024, literally just one week before the 2024 presidential election. Now, eventually, someone caught on the there was a leaked internal report that was made public, and this caused a lot of problems for the BBC. The backlash was so severe that it caused the BBC's director general, basically their equivalent of a CEO as well as their head of news, to resign altogether. But then, on top of the problem with public perception, there was the legal trouble. Shortly afterwards, President Trump in his personal capacity, although after he reclaimed the White House, he filed a lawsuit against the BBC for defamation. Quote, the lawsuit alleges the BBC defamed Trump and violated a Florida law that bars deceptive and unfair trade practices. The president is seeking at least $5 billion in damages for each of the two separate counts in the lawsuit. Now, part of the reason that Trump filed this lawsuit in his home state of Florida rather than in a UK court has to do with the statute of limitations. Quote, Trump is unable to sue the BBC for defamation in the UK as the one year limitation for doing so has passed since the broadcasting of the program in Florida. The time limit is two years. And it's this fact, the fact that he is suing in the state of Florida, which will probably ultimately make this case a lot harder for Trump. That's because one of the legal arguments that the BBC is using in their defense is that they're saying that their program did not actually air in Florida and, and therefore a Florida court does not have jurisdiction in the matter. Quote, the BBC said previously it would seek to have the case dismissed, arguing that the court lacks jurisdiction because it did not broadcast the program in Florida and that the president could not prove damages because he was reelected in 2024 after it aired. The corporation disputes Trump's claim that the Panorama episode in question was available in the United States on the Britbox streaming service because BBC I players geoblocked. Although lawyers have argued it could be watched by Americans using a vpn, which is an interesting legal argument. Trump's team is basically saying that somebody could have watched that episode in Florida using a vpn, and therefore, because they could have watched it, the Jurisdiction exists. Now, whether that argument will ultimately hold up in court is yet to be determined. All right, just to pause here for a super quick moment, I'd like to introduce today's sponsor, Shen Yun Performing Arts. It is the preeminent, best Chinese classical dance performance in the world. But funny enough, they're actually based right here in the US and they're not allowed to perform in China. Part of the show, it exposes the crimes of the Chinese Communist Party, and so, ironically, they can't even go there. But the show itself is great. I've personally seen it several times, and the athleticism, the artistry, the stories are phenomenal. Some of them are touching, some are funny. A lot of them are thought provoking, and. And you're not really allowed to film the show, but basically, it looked exactly like the commercials do. Beautiful colors, a full orchestra right there in the theater. They also have the screen in the back that's perfectly timed with the dancers. So sometimes it looks like they're jumping in and out of the screen to tell the story, which is cool. But the best part is that it's just super uplifting in a moral sense. I feel like every time I watch it, I leave the theater as a better person than I did coming in. And most shows nowadays, at least in my opinion, are really subversive and they sneak in some communist elements. But Shen Yun is different. They really showcase traditional culture, and even though it's Chinese, it actually probably resonates with everyone. So check it out. They have shows coming up in, like, a hundred different cities. Dallas, Houston, New York, Memphis, Charlotte, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Seattle, pretty much everywhere else in between. And the best part is that to our viewers, they're offering a special promotional deal. Just buy your tickets over on the Shenyon website and use promo code Roman 26 to avoid paying both the ticketing fee as well as the facility fee. That's, again, promo code Roman 26. I'll throw a link to the website where you can find all the different show dates and cities. It'll be down in the description box below. However, it has proven successful thus far. That's because the BBC was attempting to have this defamation case dismissed altogether and to put an immediate end to the discovery phase of the lawsuit, which, if we reference the discovery phase, is when President Trump's legal team could go in and obtain evidence such as emails, texts, and other such things from the BBC, but the judge in the case was not having it. And to that end, late last week, you had Judge Roy Altman deny the BBC's request to dismiss the case as well as their request to stop the discovery process. Quote, A judge has rejected the BBC's application to dismiss a $10 billion defamation lawsuit brought by US President Donald Trump over its editing of a speech that made it appear that he encouraged violence at the US Capitol on January 6. Lawyers acting for Britain's publicly owned broadcaster had asked the judge to dismiss the claim, but the case is now set for a two week hearing beginning February 15, 2027 at a Miami courthouse. U.S. district Judge Roy Altman denied the broadcaster's application to stay the discovery phase of the lawsuit when each party can obtain evidence from the other. The judge said that BBC's application was premature and had failed to demonstrate that the broadcaster would be prejudiced if the stay was not granted, meaning that both the discovery phase can now proceed and that a two week hearing has been scheduled for February 15th of next year, 2027. However, in terms of the immediate next steps, the two sides must now select a mediator by March 3rd of this year and schedule a time, a date and a place for mediation. And it might actually just be solved there. In mediation, for instance, Trump's other cases against both ABC News and as well as CBS's 60 Minutes program, they were both settled out of court and so it might just wind up happening here with the BBC as well. If it doesn't though, here for your reference would be the criteria for Trump to actually be able to win damages in court. Quote, to win damages, Trump's lawyers will have to prove that the episode of Panorama in question was viewed in the United States and that it caused serious damage to his reputation. And so we'll just have to wait and see how this case ultimately plays itself out whenever big developments happen. In this particular case, I will give you updates as they come around. But in the interim, if you want to read the entirety of the 33 page lawsuit from Trump's legal team for yourself, I will throw the link to the PDF version of it. You'll be able to find it down in the description box below, which is again right next to those like and subscribe buttons, both of which I hope you smash. You smashed already. But if you haven't, now's another opportunity. Smash them. Make sure this episode reaches as many people as possible. And then until next time, I'm your host Roman from the Epoch Times. Stay informed and most importantly, stay free.
