Trump 'threatens to sue' after BBC apology - what you need to know in one post

If you're just joining our coverage, it's been a busy day so far after BBC director-general Tim Davie and BBC News CEO Deborah Turness announced their resignations yesterday.

The BBC has this afternoon issued an apology after a speech by Donald Trump - on the infamous day of Washington DC's riots on January 6 2021 - was edited in an episode of Panorama which aired last year.

BBC apologises for 'error of judgement'

In a letter to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee of MPs, BBC chairman Samir Shah said"it would have been better to take more formal action" after it was revealed the corporation edited a Trump speech.

Shah said Trump's speech was edited in a way that gave"the impression of a direct call for violent action".

"The BBC would like to apologise for that error of judgement," he said.

The concerns about the Trump documentary edit first came to light in a leaked memo from Michael Prescott, a former journalist and independent adviser to the BBC's Editorial Guidelines and Standards Board.

Trump responded to the BBC resignations last night, describing Tim Davie and Deborah Turness as"very dishonest people who tried to step on the scales of a presidential election" in a post on Truth Social.

What Trump said v how it was edited

The concerns regard clips spliced together from sections of the US president's speech on 6 January 2021 to make it appear he told supporters he was going to walk to the US Capitol with them to"fight like hell".

What Trump actually said:

"We're going to walk down to the Capitol, and we're going to cheer our brave senators and congressmen and women."

50 minutes later, in the same speech, he said:

"I'll be with you. And we fight. Fight like hell."

The edit:

"We're going to walk down to the Capitol […] and I'll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell."

Trump 'threatens legal action'

In the latest major development this afternoon, BBC News reports that the US president has sent a letter to the corporation threatening legal action.

The BBC said it will respond to the letter"in due course".

Speaking on her way to Broadcasting House this morning, outgoing BBC News boss Deborah Turness defended the organisation's journalists.

She rejected accusations of institutional bias at the BBC and said"of course our journalists aren't corrupt".

"The buck stops with me," she added.