A judge in London dismissed a lawsuit filed by Donald Trump, alleging that a former British agent had made "shocking and scandalous claims" that were “untrue” and damaged the ex-US President's reputation.
The action that Trump brought against Orbis Business Intelligence shouldn't proceed to trial, said Judge Karen Steyn on Thursday, as per The Guardian.
Former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele founded the business after producing a dossier in 2016 that included unsubstantiated claims, sparking a political uproar shortly before Trump's inauguration.
While Trump has filed a lawsuit against the business established by Steele - who once operated the Russia desk for Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6, Orbis Business Intelligence is suing Trump for damages for allegedly breaking British data protection regulations.
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UK court's ruling
The UK court stated it did not “consider or determine the accuracy of inaccuracy of the memoranda” but found that Trump’s claim for damages had been made outside the six-year period of “limitations”.
{{/usCountry}}The UK court stated it did not “consider or determine the accuracy of inaccuracy of the memoranda” but found that Trump’s claim for damages had been made outside the six-year period of “limitations”.
{{/usCountry}}Trump “has no reasonable grounds for bringing a claim for compensation or damages, and no real prospect of successfully obtaining such a remedy," Judge Steyn stressed.
The court further added that the “only other remedy claimed was for a compliance order erasing or restricting processing of the memoranda” but that this would be “pointless, and unnecessary, in circumstances where the dossier was freely available on the internet, and the defendant had in any event undertaken to delete the copies it held”.
This development comes at a time when Trump is leading the race to be the Republican nominee for president in 2024 despite having legal issues on the other side of the Atlantic.
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Trump vs Steele dossier: All you need to know about the case
Earlier, Trump claimed he’d suffered “personal and reputational damage and distress” from the publication of the notorious dossier that alleged ties between the Kremlin and the former US president’s successful run to the White House.
In a statement, Trump stated he had not participated in "sex parties" in St. Petersburg, bribed Russian officials, or given them "sufficient material to blackmail me." He had also denied engaging in "perverted sexual behavior including the hiring of prostitutes... in the presidential suite of a hotel in Moscow." He added that he had not bought off, intimidated, or silenced witnesses.
The Steele dossier made headlines around the world when it was leaked to BuzzFeed in January 2017 with allegations that the presidential campaign had been compromised by the Russian security service.
Steele, who Trump once called a “lowlife”, was retained by a Washington-based research firm in June 2016 to examine Trump’s links to Russia. The Democratic National Committee and the campaign of Hillary Clinton hired Fusion GPS after Trump was headed for the nomination.
According to lawyers for Steele’s firm, the claim has no reasonable prospect of success and that Trump is merely pursuing a “vendetta.” Trump has a history of “harassing perceived enemies and others against whom he bears a grudge,” Orbis’s lawyers had said.
Orbis said the dossier was never intended to be made public and Trump couldn’t hold the firm responsible for the Buzzfeed publication itself.