Overview
- President Trump asked Judge Jeffrey Kuntz on Friday to deny the BBC permission to serve subpoenas on Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Jared Kushner by certified mail.
- The BBC says process servers faced Secret Service or security barriers during May attempts to serve the three and has asked the court to allow certified‑mail or alternative service instead of in‑person delivery.
- The dispute is part of Trump’s December $10 billion defamation suit over a Panorama edit about his Jan. 6 remarks; the BBC apologized for the edit but denies defaming him.
- Lower‑court orders have already pushed discovery fights over private trust and business records, a magistrate judge’s production order was temporarily stayed, and those privilege and scope disputes remain unresolved.
- The contested subpoenas and ongoing discovery fights could extend pretrial litigation, affect privacy and privilege claims for protected people, and leave the February trial date tentative.