The fallout has led to the BBC’s director general Tim Davie and head of news Deborah Turness resigning.
Both outgoing senior leaders have pushed back against critics who have said the episode raises wider questions about impartiality at the BBC.
Speaking during an internal all-staff meeting on Tuesday, Davie said: “We have made some mistakes that have cost us, but we need to fight”, adding that “this narrative will not just be given by our enemies, it’s our narrative”.
He said the BBC went through “difficult times… but it just does good work, and that speaks louder than any newspaper, any weaponisation”.
Neither Davie nor the BBC chair mentioned Trump’s legal threat during their address to staff on Tuesday.
Downing Street has said this was a “matter for the BBC”.
“It is clearly not for the government to comment on any ongoing legal matters,” the prime minister’s official spokesperson said.
The row comes at a sensitive time for the BBC, with its royal charter – the agreement which underpins its governance and funding arrangements – due to expire at the end of 2027.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy will oversee talks on the terms of its renewal. She told the Commons on Tuesday those negotiations would “renew its mission for the modern age” and ensure a “genuinely accountable” organisation.
Nandy continued: “There is a fundamental difference between raising serious concerns over editorial failings and members of this House launching a sustained attack on the institution itself, because the BBC is not just a broadcaster, it is a national institution that belongs to us all.”
The culture select committee is expected to hear evidence from senior BBC figures in the coming weeks, including Shah and board members Sir Robbie Gibb and Caroline Thomson.
Former editorial standards adviser Michael Prescott, who authored the leaked memo which appeared in the Telegraph, will also be invited to give evidence.
Elsewhere, an internal Reform UK email seen by BBC News confirmed the party is ending its co-operation with a documentary commissioned by the broadcaster about its rise.
The email says the production team had been given “unprecedented access” to senior figures in the party, but that they should now withdraw consent for any footage to be used over the Trump row.
