BBC urges court to dismiss Trump Panorama lawsuit

The BBC has urged a court to dismiss Donald Trump's multi-billion dollar lawsuit against it, arguing that a Panorama episode - which edited together different sections of a speech he gave - never aired in the US. "It wasn't available to watch in the US on iPlayer, online or any other streaming platforms," a BBC spokesperson said on Monday. "We have therefore challenged jurisdiction of the Florida court." President Trump is suing for defamation over the way Panorama spliced together his speech, which he claims made it appear that he had directly encouraged his supporters to storm the US Capitol on 6 January 2021. The lawsuit - filed in Florida - accuses the BBC of "intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively doctoring" his speech. BBC News has approached the White House for comment. The BBC has previously apologised to Trump over the Panorama edit, but rejected his demands for compensation and disagreed there was a basis for a defamation and trade practices claim. In the court documents, the corporation said "the chilling effect is clear" when an individual as powerful and high profile as Trump - on whose activities the BBC reports every day - raises a claim like this. The corporati