Jeffrey T Kuntz
ON THE RECORD · 7 verbatim quotes · every quote source-verified
“Trump’s allegations regarding BBC’s departure from journalistic standards are more than enough to plausibly alleged more than mere negligence”
Jeffrey T Kuntz · said 2026-11-10 · reported 2026-11-11
The judge found Trump's allegations about the BBC's departure from journalistic standards sufficient to plead more than mere negligence.
“It would be difficult for the Court to accept a different framing without completely negating the significance and fragility of political elections.”
Jeffrey T Kuntz · said 2026-11-10 · reported 2026-11-11
Judge Kuntz found Trump plausibly pled damages from a defamatory documentary released toward the election.
“On its face, the editing may independently establish the plausibility of actual malice,”
Jeffrey T Kuntz · said 2026-11-10 · reported 2026-11-11
The judge noted the significance of the documentary's editing decision, which spliced together comments made by Trump nearly 55 minutes apart.
“BBC tries to frame this editing as ordinary editing done to condense a seventy-minute-long speech into twelve seconds. But the Court is not persuaded.”
Jeffrey T Kuntz · said 2026-11-10 · reported 2026-11-11
The judge rejected the BBC's argument that the editing was ordinary condensation of a speech.
“such examples can be said to be probative of BBC’s state of mind as it pertains to recklessness in light of BBC’s non-action toward false statements about Trump. Thus, Trump paints a picture that demonstrates the BBC has a record of allowing the publication of false statements in their portrayal of Trump.”
Jeffrey T Kuntz · said 2026-11-10 · reported 2026-11-11
The judge noted past errors in the BBC's coverage as probative of the broadcaster's state of mind regarding recklessness.
“Editing is often required. However, given the time disparity between the two statements, the distance itself tends toward a plausible inference that BBC knew or should have known that the segment they were creating would not and could not have been a truthful statement. This was not trimming around the edges but creating something different than what was stated in the speech.”
Jeffrey T Kuntz · said 2026-11-10 · reported 2026-11-11
The judge wrote that the time disparity between spliced statements supported a plausible inference of actual malice.
“Accepting the allegations in the complaint as true, the Court finds Trump plausibly pled damages where Trump alleges a defamatory documentary released toward the election caused reputational harm,”
Jeffrey T Kuntz · said 2026-11-10 · reported 2026-11-11
Judge Kuntz ruled that Donald Trump's $10bn defamation lawsuit against the BBC can proceed.