Orbis Business Intelligence, the entity behind the controversial dossier connecting Donald Trump to Russia, has welcomed a UK High Court decision to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the former U.S. president. Mrs. Justice Steyn sided with Orbis, founded by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, stating that the case did not warrant a trial.
Donald Trump had sought to employ data protection laws in his legal action against the company, citing the dossier's unverified claims of bribery and sex parties. The dossier, financed by Hillary Clinton's Democrats and other Trump opponents, was leaked to the media just before his presidential inauguration, adding a layer of complexity to the legal proceedings.
In Thursday's ruling, the court clarified that it refrained from passing judgment on the accuracy of the memoranda. The focus was on Trump's claim for damages, which was deemed to have surpassed the six-year period of "limitations." The court concluded that Trump lacks "reasonable grounds for bringing a claim for compensation or damages, and no real prospect of successfully obtaining such a remedy”.
Additionally, the court highlighted that the "only other remedy claimed was for a compliance order erasing or restricting processing of the memoranda." However, there was little point in this given the dossier's widespread availability on the internet and the defendant's commitment to deleting its copies.
Orbis contended that the lawsuit was unwarranted from the start. Mr. Steele emphasized that the dossier, a compilation of memos, was rooted in intelligence and never intended for public dissemination. The origins of the case trace back to 2016 when a U.S. political consultancy commissioned Mr. Steele's company to generate a report on potential Russian interference in the U.S. general election.
BuzzFeed News later acquired and published the dossier, which contained unverified intelligence assertions alleging a "compromising relationship with the Kremlin" on the part of Mr. Trump.
Edited by Tanya Kekic
Image credit: CNN
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