LONDON (AP) 鈥� A lawyer for told a London judge Monday that the ex-president plans to prove that a discredited report by a former British spy that contained 鈥渟hocking and scandalous claims鈥� that he was compromised by Russians in his first bid for the presidency was wrong and harmed his reputation.
Trump has sued the company founded by Christopher Steele, who created a dossier in 2016 that contained rumors and uncorroborated allegations about Trump that erupted in a political storm just before he was inaugurated.
Trump is seeking damages from Orbis Business Intelligence for allegedly violating British data protection laws. Steele's company is seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed during two days of hearings at London's High Court.
The lawsuit comes as Trump is the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination while facing legal problems on the other side of the Atlantic.
Trump's lawyers are in New York alleging he and company executives deceived banks, insurers and others by overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth to secure loans and make deals. He also faces for allegations including mishandling classified documents, trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election, and paying hush money to a porn actress to cover up an affair.
His lawyer noted in court Monday that Trump is a 鈥渃ontroversial figure鈥� who 鈥渆xpresses himself in strong language鈥� and has faced criticism from judges in the U.S. However, he said none of that is relevant in the current case.
Trump 鈥渟uffered personal and reputational damage and distress" because his data protection rights were violated, attorney Hugh Tomlinson said.
Steele, who once ran the Russia desk for the Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6, was paid by Democrats to compile research that included salacious allegations that Russians could potentially blackmail Trump for sexual activity. Trump said the dossier was fake news and a political witch hunt.
Tomlinson said it 鈥渃ontained shocking and scandalous claims about the personal conduct of President Trump鈥� and included allegations he paid bribes to Russian officials to further his business interests. Trump鈥檚 case 鈥渋s that this personal data is egregiously inaccurate,鈥� he said.
Tomlinson said Trump plans to vindicate himself in court by providing evidence that the report鈥檚 claims were false.
In a written witness statement, Trump said that despite Steele's assertions the allegations have not been disproven, they were 鈥渨holly untrue.鈥�
Trump said he had not engaged in 鈥減erverted sexual behavior including the hiring of prostitutes ... in the presidential suite of a hotel in Moscow,鈥� taken part in 鈥渟ex parties鈥� in St. Petersburg, bribed Russian officials, or provided them with 鈥渟ufficient material to blackmail me.鈥� He also said he had not bribed, coerced or silenced witnesses.
Orbis wants the lawsuit thrown out because it said the report was never meant to be made public and was published by BuzzFeed without the permission of Steele or Orbis. It also said the claim was filed too late.
Orbis attorney Antony White said Trump has a 鈥渄eep and intense animus against鈥� Steele and the firm and a 鈥渁 long history of repeatedly bringing frivolous, meritless and vexatious claims for the purpose of vexing and harassing perceived enemies and others against whom he bears a grudge.鈥�
Trump had called for Steele to be 鈥渆xtradited, tried, and thrown into jail鈥� and has called him a 鈥渓owlife鈥� and 鈥渟leazebag鈥� involved in the "Russian collusion hoax鈥� who produced 鈥渁 total phony con job鈥� dossier, White said in a court filing.
Trump said in his witness statement that he was not trying to harass or seek revenge or drive Orbis into financial ruin but wants to establish that the information in the dossier was false.
鈥淯ntil there is such a judgment, I continue to suffer damage and distress as a result of people wrongfully believing that the data in the dossier is accurate,鈥� he said.
In two previous High Court cases, a judge ruled Orbis and Steele were not legally liable for the consequences of the dossier's publication.
Brian Melley, The Associated Press
