The BBC has decided that the best way to defend against Donald Trump's defamation lawsuit is to drag his entire family into the courtroom. In a motion filed on Friday, the British broadcaster requested permission to subpoena Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Jared Kushner for testimony and records related to the January 6, 2021 insurrection. Because nothing says 'family values' like a legal summons from a foreign media outlet.

The BBC's lawyers argue that they need to uncover Trump's 'intention behind the speech' and anything that might have influenced what his audience reasonably understood from his words. This includes whether he spoke intentionally, the size of the audience, and the extent of any harm caused. In other words, they want to know if Trump really meant to incite a mob or if he was just being his usual ambiguous, inflammatory self.

Trump filed the lawsuit in December over the 2024 BBC documentary 'Trump, A Second Chance?' which allegedly spliced scenes from his January 6 speech to make it appear he directly ordered the attack on the Capitol. The BBC has apologized for the editing but insists Trump has no grounds for defamation.

According to the BBC's court filing, Trump's kids and son-in-law have 'without question' knowledge of key events that day, including Trump's efforts to pressure Vice President Mike Pence into refusing to certify the 2020 election results. They also claim Kushner helped draft a statement for Trump that would have condemned the violence - though apparently, it never saw the light of day.

Previous attempts to serve the subpoenas were thwarted by the Secret Service, who protect the president's immediate family. The BBC tried to reach Ivanka and Jared at their Florida home but were blocked by law enforcement. One can only imagine the awkward conversation: 'Ma'am, we're here to serve legal papers.' 'Sorry, presidential family, no trespassing.'

Last week, a federal judge granted Trump's request to block the BBC from accessing his financial records, as his lawyers plan to focus the lawsuit on reputational damages rather than business impact. Another judge had previously ordered Trump to hand over records detailing the hundreds of businesses in his family trust. Trump has also claimed, without evidence, that the BBC used AI to alter his speech - a claim the network denies. Because why not add a little conspiracy to the mix?

The BBC is represented by Ballard Spahr, a law firm that has also defended the New York Times and the Associated Press against Trump's other lawsuits. Trump has been busy suing media outlets left and right, including a $10 billion suit against the Wall Street Journal over its reporting on his alleged ties to Jeffrey Epstein, and subpoenaing NYT journalists over an Air Force One safety article. Clearly, Trump is on a mission to make 'fake news' a legal term.