Court dismissed Trump's lawsuit against former MI6 agent over Kremlin dossier
Photo: former U.S. President Donald Trump (Getty Images)
Donald Trump lost a court case against former MI6 agent Christopher Steele. During the 2016 election campaign, a dossier compiled by the special agent containing information about Trump's possible ties to Russia became public through the media, reports Bloomberg.
Last year, the leader of the Republican Party, in the context of this year's U.S. presidential elections, filed a lawsuit against former MI6 agent Christopher Steele and his business intelligence firm, Orbis, under the data protection law. Trump claimed to have suffered "significant harm and distress" due to the publication of the dossier and sought a judge's decision on the falsity of the information disclosed in the report.
In January 2017, Steele's dossier was disseminated by the company BuzzFeed, alleging that the presidential campaign was compromised by the Russian Federal Security Service.
On Thursday, February 1, Judge Karen Steyn dismissed the lawsuit, stating that Trump has no chance of receiving compensation for any suffering he may have experienced. She also added that she does not plan to determine the credibility of the information in the dossier.
"In reality, the claimant is seeking court findings to vindicate his reputation in circumstances where has not been able to formulate any viable remedy which he would have a real prospect of obtaining," Steyn noted.
Earlier, in the court documents, Trump claimed that he was willing to come to London to testify in this case. The Republican leader is employing a strategy to garner support from loyal followers in the current election campaign. He is actively engaging in legal battles, facing 91 criminal charges against himself, including allegations of conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Trump's campaign said that the former president "will continue to fight for the truth and against falsehoods such as ones promulgated by Steele and his cohorts."
Steele, whom Trump once called "lowlife," was hired by a Washington research firm in June 2016 to investigate Trump's connections to Russia. The Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign enlisted Fusion GPS after Trump became the Republican presidential nominee.
Steele's firm lawyers argued that the lawsuit had no reasonable chance of success and that Trump was simply pursuing a "vendetta." According to Orbis' lawyers, Trump has a history of "harassing perceived enemies and others against whom he bears a grudge."
Orbis stated that the dossier was never intended for public disclosure, and Trump cannot hold the firm responsible solely for the publication by BuzzFeed.
Scandalous pro-Russian statements by Trump
Donald Trump has repeatedly suggested that Ukraine should cede the territories temporarily occupied by Russia. He also claimed that our country is losing in the war.
Moreover, Trump referred to the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin as "smart" and refused to recognize him as a war criminal.
The head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, dismissed as complete nonsense any alleged ties between Trump and Russia.
