Trump Sues the BBC: Is this Case as Fake as the President’s Tan?
Double Jeopardy - UK Law and PoliticsShow Notes
Ten months into Donald Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC over an edit to a Panorama documentary aired days before the 2024 Presidential election, a federal Magistrate in Miami has issued a strict deadline, ordering Trump to sit for a deposition under oath by 11th December or risk having his claim struck out. The hour long documentary (“Trump: A Second Chance?”) spliced quotes from Trump’s speech, omitted context and gave a misleading timeline but plainly caused no damage to Trump’s election campaign or added further harm to his reputation as a shyster, fraudster, sexual predator, pathological liar and anti-democratic megalomaniac. While the BBC has admitted the edit was an "error of judgment" and issued an apology, they deny legal liability for defamation.
In this week’s episode of Double Jeopardy, Ken Macdonald KC and Tim Owen KC provide expert legal commentary and reflect on Trump’s recent, largely successful, history of baseless litigation designed to intimidate US media organisations and praise the BBC’s legal strategy which threatens to expose Trump as the classic bully he is and who, in the words of heroic Magistrate Enjolique Lett, seeks to use the legal system as both a sword and shield by issuing a claim and then running away from the consequences by endlessly postponing deposition dates when he would have to justify his claim to have suffered harm worth $10 billion.
Is Trump’s suit doomed to collapse in humiliation, as many informed US observers believe? Is he really willing to expose himself to many hours of videoed cross examination by top US media lawyer, Chuck Tobin, under oath about the US Capitol insurrection on 6th January 2021 ? And is he willing to risk a similar ordeal for Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, who it is known from the 6th January Committee’s findings, privately accepted that Trump lost the 2020 presidential election?
Ken and Tim go on to discuss the rumours circulating amongst US legal observers that Supreme Court Justice Alito may resign if the mid-Terms result in a Democratic majority in the Senate so that Trump can secure confirmation for a new, youthful MAGA supporting Justice to replace Alito before a January 2027 power shift.
And they respond to listeners’ questions about bias in covering the Conversion Practices Bill and praise the blogpost published last week by retired Recorder of Westminster HHJ Rivlin KC which sets out a detailed critique of the Government’s remaining plans to undermine the right to jury trial - https://redlionchambers.substack.com/p/judge-alone-trials-the-latest-proposals
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Covering the critical intersections of politics and law in the UK with expert commentary on high-profile legal cases, political controversies, prisons and sentencing, human rights law, current political events and the shifting landscape of justice and democracy. With in-depth discussions and influential guests, Double Jeopardy is the podcast that uncovers the forces shaping Britain's legal and political future.
What happens when politics and law collide? How do politics shape the law - and when does the law push back? What happens when judicial independence is tested, human rights come under attack, or freedom of expression is challenged? And who really holds power in Britain's legal and political system? Get answers to questions like these weekly on Wednesdays.
Double Jeopardy is presented by Ken Macdonald KC, former Director of Public Prosecutions, and Tim Owen KC, as they break down the legal and political issues in Britain. From high-profile legal cases to the evolving state of British democracy, Double Jeopardy offers expert legal commentary on the most pressing topics in UK law, politics, and human rights.
Ken Macdonald KC served as Director of Public Prosecutions from 2003 2008, shaping modern prosecutorial policy and advocating for the rule of law. He is a former Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, a crossbench member of the House of Lords, and
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