London: The BBC is facing a billion-dollar legal fight with US President Donald Trump after he threatened to sue the public broadcaster over an edited video that has ignited claims about its left-wing bias and poor editorial standards.
Trump has vowed to seek $US1 billion ($1.5 billion) in financial damages from the iconic British broadcaster unless it issues a “full and fair retraction” of the documentary at the heart of the dispute.
Donald Trump after landing in Air Force One on the weekend. The US president has threatened to sue the BBC over an edited video of him.Credit: AP
The move comes one day after BBC director-general Tim Davie and news chief executive Deborah Turness resigned in response to the growing argument about bias, after the leak of an internal dossier that warned of problems with the video and other reporting.
BBC chairman Samir Shah wrote to British MPs on Monday to apologise for the edited video, but Trump and his lawyers responded hours later by demanding more action and putting the financial estimate on their defamation claim.
Trump attorney Alejandro Brito wrote to the BBC to demand it retract the “false, defamatory, disparaging, and inflammatory statements” it had aired, apologise for what it had done and “appropriately compensate” his client for the harm it had caused.
In a claim filed in Florida, Brito set a deadline of this Friday at 5pm local time (9am Saturday AEDT) for the BBC to comply.
“If the BBC does not comply with the above … 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,” he wrote.
Brito said the president would file legal action for no less than $US1 billion in damages if the requests were not met.
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