Jeffrey Kuntz assigned to Trump’s $10bn BBC defamation case

Jeffrey Kuntz, a federal judge recently nominated by Donald Trump, has been assigned to oversee the president’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC in Florida. Kuntz was confirmed by the Senate last month and replaces Judge Roy Altman, who had previously presided over the case.

The lawsuit concerns a BBC Panorama programme that edited together two different sections of a speech Trump delivered outside the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. While the BBC has apologized for the editing, the broadcaster is seeking a dismissal, arguing the programme does not meet the legal criteria for defamation and that the Florida court lacks jurisdiction over the corporation.

Trump has requested a jury trial, and the case is currently scheduled for February 2027. Kuntz is one of several judges to receive transferred cases following his appointment to the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida in July.