The BBC Chairman Samir Shah has said that they are “determined to fight” Donald Trump has he is seeking to sue the corporation for billions of dollars.
The BBC chairman has said on Monday that there is “no basis for a defamation case” and the corporation will “fight” Trump.
Shah said in an email to staff, “There is a lot being written, said and speculated upon about the possibility of legal action, including potential costs or settlements”.
In all this we are, of course, acutely aware of the privilege of our funding and the need to protect our licence fee payers, the British public,” he added.
“I want to be very clear with you – our position has not changed. There is no basis for a defamation case and we are determined to fight this.”
Former director-general Lord Tony Hall has told the BBC not to use taxpayers’ money to settle a possible legal case with the US President.
Trump has threatened to sue the BBC anywhere between $1 billion and $5 billion as the US President’s 6 January 2021 Panorama has spliced together the speech in the programme last year which made it look like Trump encouraged the Capitol Hill riots in 2021.
Lord Hall told the BBC, “No, [it] should not happen.
“You’re talking about public money. It would not be appropriate,” adding the edit was a “serious error.”
He continued that the “hard work, diligence and the belief in impartiality” of journalists who work for the corporation has been thrown out of the window.
The US President warned that the BBC will “probably” receive the lawsuit next week.
President Trump told GB News, “I’m not looking to get into lawsuits, but I think I have an obligation to do it.
“This was so egregious if you don’t. You don’t stop it from happening again with other people.”
During an interview with Fox News President Trump said he will be seeking “no less than 1,000,000,000 dollars in damages”.
Trump said, “I think I have an obligation to do it, you can’t allow people to do that.
“I guess I have to. They defrauded the public and they’ve admitted it. This is within one of our great allies, supposedly our great ally.
“That’s a pretty sad event. They actually changed my January 6 speech, which was a beautiful speech, which was a very calming speech, and they made it sound radical.
“They showed me the results of how they butchered it up. It was very dishonest and the head man quit and a lot of the other people quit.”
Trump’s Lawyer Alejandro Brito has written to the BBC demanding the “false, defamatory, disparaging and inflammatory statements” to be immediately retracted.
The letter reads, if the BBC “does not comply,” then President Trump will be “left with no alternative but to enforce his legal and equitable rights, all of which are expressly reserved and are not waived, including by filing legal action for no less than 1,000,000,000 dollars in damages.
Leave a Comment