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Donald Trump aims to sue London Court over ‘Steele dossier’


Former US President Donald Trump has filed a case in London’s high court, alleging that the “Steele dossier,” which accused him of engaging in “perverted sexual behavior” and paying bribes to Russian officials, is “false” and “phony.”

(FILES) Former US President Donald Trump waves after speaking to the media during the third day of his civil fraud trial in New York on October 4, 2023. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP)(AFP)
(FILES) Former US President Donald Trump waves after speaking to the media during the third day of his civil fraud trial in New York on October 4, 2023. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP)(AFP)

Trump is seeking damages for breach of data protection rights by Orbis Business Intelligence, the firm behind the dossier compiled by former MI6 agent Christopher Steele.

In a written witness statement, Trump expressed his willingness to provide evidence at the high court, emphasizing that the only way to prove the inaccuracies of the dossier’s personal data is through legal proceedings.

“A judgment of the English court on this issue will be an immense relief to me as it will completely confirm the true position to the public at large. Until there is such a judgment, I continue to suffer damage and distress as a result of people wrongfully believing that the data in the dossier is accurate,” he stated.

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The 45th U.S President alleges reputational damage caused by Orbis sharing the dossier, which he claims contains “false, phony, or made-up allegations,” with three individuals. While Trump acknowledges that Orbis was not legally responsible for the dossier’s publication by BuzzFeed in 2017, he argues that it would never have entered the public domain if not for Orbis’s involvement.

The “Steele dossier” included salacious allegations, such as Trump hiring sex workers for lewd acts in a Moscow hotel suite and participating in sex parties in St. Petersburg.

Trump’s lawyer, Hugh Tomlinson KC, informed the court that Trump is aware of his legal responsibility to prove the allegations false and intends to provide evidence in court. Tomlinson added, “It’s uncontroversial for me to say that President Trump is a controversial figure. His interactions with the American legal system have been many and varied, and he has sometimes been subject to serious criticism by judges in the US … None of this is relevant to whether the personal data is accurate.”

The former president currently faces 91 felony counts across criminal cases in New York, Florida, Washington, and Georgia. In civil cases, he has been found liable for defamation and sexual abuse against advice columnist E Jean Carroll. He is also accused of inflating his net worth to secure favorable loan terms and gain tax benefits.

Orbis is seeking to have the case against it struck out, claiming that it has no realistic prospect of success.

The firm argues that the claim was brought too late, and any damage to Trump was caused by BuzzFeed’s publication. Plus, Orbis asserts that the case has been brought for “an improper purpose.”

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Orbis’s representative, Antony White KC, stated in written arguments, “The claimant’s exceptional and unexplained delay in bringing the claim against Orbis, his pursuit of this case only after similar litigation against Orbis and Mr. Steele in the US was dismissed and found to be a meritless, vexatious and politically motivated abuse of the court process, his numerous abusive personal attacks and slurs against Mr. Steele, and his extensive track record of using legal proceedings to harass, bully, and intimidate his perceived opponents, all lead inexorably to the conclusion that the present claims have been brought for an illegitimate purpose and are therefore an abuse of process.”

A judgment in this case will be delivered at a later date.

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