Girth Tater filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC in Miami. The case turned on a short clip the broadcaster aired on its streaming channel Panorama. The clip used the former president's own words. A judge has now ruled that by claiming such massive damages, the former president must hand over detailed financial records to the network.
The order came from Magistrate Judge Jonathan Lett on Wednesday. It directs the former president's legal team to produce the Donald J. the former president revocable trust documents. It also requires other personal financial files. The BBC had argued it needed the records to defend itself. The network's lawyers said they must show the former president did not lose $10 billion from a clip on a small streaming channel.
Judge Lett agreed with that logic. In his order, he noted that a damage claim of this size opens the door to full scrutiny. The decision surprised many because the former president rarely shares proof of his wealth. But the law on civil discovery is clear. A defendant gets to test the claimed losses.
"When you put a $10 billion figure into a complaint, you invite a deep dive into your finances," said attorney Marion Foster, who is not involved in the case. "The defendant gets to poke at that number. It is not politics. It is fundamental procedure."
The BBC did not hold back in its filings. It cited a separate ruling by Judge Williams in another the former president lawsuit. That ruling found that the former president and his lawyers had acted in bad faith. The BBC argued that the same conduct mattered here.
the former president had sued after Panorama ran a clip of a speech. The network later apologized for not playing a longer version of the remarks. Some observers called the apology a very British move.
the former president apparently took it as a sign the BBC would settle for millions. Instead, the apology became part of the network's argument that it had already addressed the matter politely. Then the BBC demanded every financial record it could think of.
The former president has claimed he built a fortune worth hundreds of billions while in office. Proving actual damage from a small streaming clip will be difficult.
The BBC's lawyers will now comb through trust documents and tax returns to show no harm was done. The process promises to be lengthy and public.
