[1/3]Donald Trump, former U.S. president and Republican presidential candidate, waves at the Club 47 USA event in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., October 11, 2023. Portal/Marco Bello/File Photo Acquire LICENSE RIGHTS
LONDON, Oct 16 (Portal) – Donald Trump is suing a British private investigation firm in a London court to prove that claims he committed “perverted sexual acts” in Russia were false, the former U.S. president said in on Documents published Monday.
Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is suing Orbis Business Intelligence over alleged data breaches related to a dossier by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, co-founder of Orbis.
The Steele dossier, published by the website BuzzFeed in 2017, alleged ties between Trump’s campaign and Russia and said Trump engaged in sexual behavior that provided Russian authorities with material they could use to blackmail him.
Many of the allegations were never substantiated and lawyers for the 77-year-old Trump said in court filings Monday that the report was “egregiously inaccurate.”
Trump said in testimony that the dossier contained “numerous false, false or fabricated claims” and that he had sued Orbis to “prove by evidence in court that the data is false.”
Trump said he never hired prostitutes to perform “golden showers” – a sex act involving urination – in a Moscow hotel, attended “sex parties” in St. Petersburg or gave Russian authorities “sufficient material to blackmail me.” “. “.
However, Orbis argues that Trump is simply bringing the lawsuit to address his “long-standing grievances” against the company and Steele.
Trump’s lawsuit against Orbis is one of many legal disputes against the former president, who has four separate criminal cases pending in the United States
Despite his legal entanglements, Trump leads a field of rivals seeking the Republican nomination.
“SHOCKING AND SCANDALIC”
Trump lawyer Hugh Tomlinson said in court that the former president wanted to prove that the “shocking and scandalous allegations” in the Steele dossier were false.
He “intends to meet that burden by testifying before this court,” Tomlinson said, raising the prospect of oral testimony from Trump if his case is allowed to proceed.
However, Orbis’ attorney Antony White said Trump’s lawsuit should be dismissed out of court because any reputational damage and distress Trump suffered were caused by BuzzFeed’s publication of the dossier, which White said was never intended to be published.
Orbis also argues that Trump is not bringing the case for vindication, but instead is suing “to harass Orbis and Mr. Steele.”
White said Trump sued Orbis in London only after a similar case was dismissed in Florida against Orbis, Steele and others – including his Democratic opponent in the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton.
He also cited Trump’s countersuit against writer E. Jean Carroll and lawsuits against New York Attorney General Letitia James as evidence of his “long history of repeatedly making frivolous, baseless and vexatious claims” to harass his perceived enemies.
Trump did not attend Monday’s hearing in London and was not required to do so. Steele attended the hearing and sat next to Orbis’ lawyers.
Tomlinson acknowledged Trump’s “many and varied” legal cases in the U.S. at the start of Monday’s hearing and said his client had “sometimes faced serious criticism from judges.”
But he added: “None of this is relevant to the accuracy of the personal data.”
Tomlinson said that if Trump’s case were successful after the trial, he would be entitled to at least 18,000 pounds ($21,893) in damages – the amount awarded to oligarchs Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven after separate lawsuits against Orbis.
Judge Karen Steyn said at the end of the hearing that she would decide at a later date whether Trump’s lawsuit could proceed.
(This story has been re-archived to fix a typo in paragraph 6)
Reporting by Sam Tobin, editing by Ed Osmond, Christina Fincher and Rod Nickel
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