Trump team seeks stay to block BBC financial records

President Donald Trump's legal team filed an emergency motion on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, seeking to block a court order that would compel the disclosure of detailed financial records from his family trust to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The order, issued by U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett in late July, required the Trump trust to begin producing the documents by Thursday, August 6, as part of discovery in a $10 billion defamation lawsuit Trump filed against the broadcaster.

The lawsuit stems from a 2024 episode of the BBC's "Panorama" series titled "Trump, a Second Chance." Trump alleges the documentary defamed him by splicing together segments of his speech on January 6, 2021, in a manner that made it appear he directly called for the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol, while omitting his calls for peaceful demonstration. The BBC has apologized for the editing but maintains it was not an intentional distortion and that the defamation claims lack merit.

Facing the imminent disclosure deadline, Trump's attorneys asked Judge Lett for an emergency stay. They simultaneously requested permission from U.S. District Judge Roy Altman, who is overseeing the case,...