Author of Trump-Russia dossier wins libel case in US court

[fleur-de-lisa]

Source: The Guardian

The former MI6 officer Christopher Steele has won a legal battle in the United States against three Russian oligarchs who sued him over allegations made in his famous dossier about the Trump campaign and its links with Moscow.

The oligarchs – Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven and German Khan – claimed that Steele and his intelligence firm Orbis defamed them in the dossier, which was leaked and published in early 2017. The Russians own stakes in Moscow-based Alfa Bank. All are billionaires.

On Monday, a judge in the district of Columbia, Anthony C Epstein, upheld a motion by Steele to have the oligarchs’ case thrown out. Epstein did not determine whether the dossier – which a furious President Trump has repeatedly dismissed as “fake” – was “accurate or not accurate”.

But the judge concluded that it was covered by the US first amendment, which protects free speech. He ruled that the oligarchs had failed to prove a key part of their case: that Steele knew that some information in the dossier was inaccurate, and had acted “with reckless disregard as to its falsity”.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/21/author-of-trump-russia-dossier-wins-libel-case-in-us-court-christopher-steele

[lagomorph777]

1. Wow, great news. So much for the nonsense about a so-called "dirty dossier."

[Nitram]

2. Excellent!

[Julian Englis]

3. Another of the radical abuse of the legal process

While the radical right moans about frivolous litigation, the radical is the biggest abuser of courts and the legal process.

[workinclasszero]

4. Sean Hannity is having a sad

[robbob]

8. Nah, that weasel is a pro at twisting the truth

He’ll just go on tv and say the judge could not say the Steele dossier was accurate. “A judge, people! And he could not SAY the dossier was accurate!”

You get the idea.

[workinclasszero]

9. I bet Hannity will say....

The DEEP STATE has struck again!

[Scurrilous]

5. K&R

[mikeysnot]

6. Bush Appointee

Countdown to conservative hostile rage and death threats... 5...4...3...2...1

[Snellius]

7. But Steele never published it. Why sue him?

Secret intelligence report leaked by BuzzFeed.

[Merlot]

12. Steele never intended it to be published

Judge should have ruled that way instead of whether or not Steele knew it could be false.

[Snellius]

13. I know. Is anything anyone ever writes about someone else subject to liable?

I've got a lot of papers in a locked lower drawer that I better shred quick.

[zentrum]

10. Brave Judge to stand up

......to Russian oligarchs. They're a vengeful lot that "send messages" to others.

[Hekate]

11. May justice be served

[Achilleaze]

14. ...and the hits just keep on coming...

Go America!

[Delphinus]

15. So glad

to read this. Thanks!