Donald Trump is suing former British spy Christopher Steele and his company, Orbis Business Intelligence, in the UK’s High Court over the Steele dossier, which made controversial claims about Trump’s alleged ties to Russia.
Donald Trump is suing ex-British spy, Christopher Steele, over the infamous Steele dossier. The dossier made explosive claims about Trump’s alleged links to Russia. A data protection claim has been brought against Steele and his company, Orbis Business Intelligence, in the UK’s High Court. The two-day hearing is set to take place next month.
Christopher Steele, a former MI6 agent, was hired by research firm Fusion GPS to compile the dossier. The law firm Perkins Coie, associated with Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee, funded the dossier. Steele alleged that Trump had been “compromised” by the Russian security service and made claims of “kompromat” material, which Trump has always strongly denied.
The credibility of Steele and the dossier has been questioned. A 2019 Justice Department report viewed Steele’s material as “Internet rumor.” A 2022 bipartisan Senate report raised concerns about Russian disinformation and criticized the poor tradecraft of the dossier. Despite this, Steele defended the dossier in a 2021 interview, asserting some claims were right but may never be provable.
The Mueller Report found multiple links between Trump campaign officials and individuals tied to the Russian government but concluded “no collusion.” It identified possible obstruction of justice instances by Trump. Questions remain over unexplained links between senior Russian figures and Trump insiders, and Trump’s sharing of classified information with Russia in 2017.