Donald Trump has threatened a billion-dollar legal action against the BBC over the editing of a Panorama documentary.
It comes as BBC chairman Samir Shah was forced to apologise on Monday for an "error of judgment" over the editing of a speech in a Panorama documentary by Mr Trump before the attack on the US Capitol on January 6 2021.
The apology follows the resignation of two of the corporation’s most senior figures on Sunday – Chief Executive of BBC News Deborah Turness and Director-General Tim Davie.
Trump’s legal team has submitted a letter to the BBC threatening a lawsuit unless they retract the documentary.
ITV News obtained a copy of the letter from a source close to President Trump
The letter, from Trump counsel Alejandro Brito, demands that “false, defamatory, disparaging, and inflammatory statements” made about Mr Trump must be retracted immediately, Fox News reported.
The letter gives the corporation a Friday deadline to respond, adding if it does not, Mr 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.”
It concludes: “The BBC is on notice.”
Mr Trump has a history of suing news organisations in the US.
The BBC said it has received communication from Trump over the editing of the documentary, broadcast the week before last year’s US election and said "we are now considering how to reply to him.”
In a letter to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Mr Shah said the corporation accepted that the way the speech had been edited for a Panorama documentary had given "the impression of a direct call for violent action."
Their resignations of Turness and Davie follows the release of a memo by Michael Prescott, a former external adviser to the BBC’s editorial standards committee, which raised concerns in the summer about the way President Trump’s speech on January 6, 2021, had been edited.
Clips were spliced together in the documentary ‘Trump: A Second Chance?’ to make it appear he had told supporters he was going to walk to the US Capitol with them to “fight like hell”.
In his letter, Mr Shah said there have been more than 500 complaints since the publication of the memo, and that it is "simply not true" that Mr Prescott "uncovered" issues that the BBC has sought to "bury".
He added: "There is another view that has gained currency in the coverage that the BBC has done nothing to tackle these problems.
"That is also simply not true."
On the editing of the clip, Mr Shah said the BBC’s editorial guidelines and standards committee was told by BBC News the purpose of doing so was "to convey the message of the speech made by President Trump so that Panorama’s audience could better understand how it had been received by President Trump’s supporters and what was happening on the ground at that time."
He said the issue was discussed as part of a wider review of the BBC’s US election coverage, but was not pursued further at that time as it had not attracted significant audience feedback.
The letter continued: "The points raised in the review were relayed to the Panorama team, including the decision-making on this edit. With hindsight, it would have been better to take more formal action."
Downing Street has said the BBC is not corrupt or institutionally biased after hitting back at claims made by President Trump and other critics of the public broadcaster.
A spokesman for the prime minister said: “On the question of is the BBC corrupt? No.
"The BBC has a vital role in an age of disinformation… where there’s a clear argument for a robust, impartial British news service to deliver, and that case is stronger than ever."
Asked if Starmer believed the BBC was institutionally biased, the spokesman replied: “No, but it is important that the BBC acts to maintain trust and correct mistakes quickly when they occur, because as I say, for any public service broadcaster, accountability is vital to maintain trust.”
On Monday morning, the former CEO of BBC News, Deborah Turness, insisted the organisation is not "institutionally biased".
Speaking to reporters outside Broadcasting House, Ms Turness said: "I stepped down over the weekend because the buck stops with me, but I would like to make one thing very clear.
"BBC News is not institutionally biased, that’s why it’s the world’s most trusted news provider."
Asked why mistakes were not dealt with, including on Trump, on antisemitism, and on women’s rights, Ms Turness replied: “I’m sure that story will emerge.”
