BBC investigated by US regulator over ‘doctored’ Trump speech
The US broadcast regulator is investigating the BBC over claims of ‘misleading and deceptive conduct’ over the editing of a speech by Donald Trump.
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The Federal Communications Commission, is looking into the Panorama footage and has written to BBC bosses to find out whether the programme was made available to any US audiences.
Brendan Carr, the Commission’s chairman, wrote: “The BBC programme depicts President Trump voicing a sentence that, in fact, he never uttered.
“That would appear to meet the very definition of publishing a materially false and damaging statement.”
The BBC has apologised and retracted the Panorama report but stopped short of issuing an apology that Mr Trump’s lawyers demanded.
Mr Trump has threatened to sue the BBC for up to $5bn. The corporation doctored a speech to make it seem as if Mr Trump urged supporters to storm the US Capitol on January 6 2021.
Two days ago BBC chairman Samir Shah told staff that Mr Trump has "no basis for a defamation case" over the editing of his speech for Panorama.
The broadcaster said the edit of Mr Trump's speech on January 6, 2021 had given the "mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action".
BBC bosses apologised and said the move was an "error of judgment", but refused to pay financial compensation after Mr Trump's lawyers threatened to sue for one billion dollars in damages unless a retraction and apology were published.
The Panorama scandal prompted the resignations of two of the BBC's most senior executives - director-general Tim Davie and news chief Deborah Turness.