A defamation lawsuit President Donald Trump filed against the BBC is producing what one observer called an “unintended consequence” — potentially opening the president up to broad discovery about the period surrounding January 6, according to journalist and commentator Aaron Parnas.
In his newsletter, the Parnas Perspective, Parnas reported that Trump’s $10 billion suit against the British broadcaster appears to be backfiring by giving the BBC an opening to demand records tied to one of the most heavily scrutinized stretches of his presidency.
According to new court filings described by Parnas, the BBC is seeking Trump’s phone logs, calendars, schedules, diaries, and communications from the period running from around the 2020 election through January 20, 2021. The broadcaster argues that the material is relevant to its defense in the case.
Trump’s attorneys are pushing back hard, Parnas reported. They have accused the BBC of attempting to use the defamation suit to put January 6 itself on trial, and argue that the discovery demands reach too far.
Parnas summed up the irony at the heart of the dispute, noting that a lawsuit Trump brought in pursuit of billions in damages is now exposing him to potentially sweeping discovery about a period he has long sought to keep out of the courts.
The dynamic Parnas described is a familiar risk in defamation litigation, where a plaintiff who goes to court seeking damages can find the discovery process turned around to scrutinize his own conduct and communications.
It remains to be seen whether the court will grant the BBC’s discovery requests or side with Trump’s attorneys in narrowing them. For now, as Parnas laid out, the suit has handed the president’s legal opponents a potential avenue into records he has fought for years to shield from public view.
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