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Donald Trump is aiming to sue Orbis Business International over claims the former US President partook in numerous sexual acts in Russia. A 35 page unverified dossier was published in early 2017 with rumours that have tarnished the reputation of an already highly controversial figure. Trump is now aiming to sue the London based firm in English court for a breach of data protection.
The Steele Dossier contents and trial
The dossier in question was created by Orbis Business International, a firm co-founded by ex-British spy Christopher Steele, who previously ran MI6’s Russian desk. The dossier contained 35 pages and provided notable claims that Trump had engaged in sex parties in St Petersburg and had ordered sex workers in a Moscow hotel to urinate on each other. Trump and his lawyers have called these claims “false, phoney [and] made up allegations” and “egregiously inaccurate” as well as calling the allegations “perverted”.
The article was leaked and published by US company Buzzfeed in January 2017, just days before Trump was inaugurated as US President, giving Russia material to blackmail him with. Trump is aiming to sue for damages and accepts Orbis is not legally responsible, he is instead aiming to sue three individuals for the company’s dissemination.
Trump did not attend the hearing at London’s High Court, which will determine whether the case will go to trial, but he did provide a written witness statement. In the statement, Trump denied the allegations and said the only way he can “fully demonstrate the total inaccuracies of the personal data in the dossier” is to prove the data is false with evidence at the trial. He said a judgment of the English court will be an “immense relief to me and it will completely confirm the true position to the public at large” but until there is a judgment, Trump says he will “continue to suffer damage and distress”.
Orbis is trying to have the case struck out before it can go on trial, saying the claims have come too late and the damages created have come from Buzzfeed’s article, not their dossier. Antony White KC, the lawyer representing Orbis, said “[Trump’s] numerous abusive personal attacks and slurs against Mr Steele, and his extensive track record of using legal proceedings to harass, bully and intimidate his perceived opponents, all lead to the conclusion that the claims have been brought for an illegitimate purpose and are therefore an abuse of process.”
Data Protection Act
The dossier is said to involve inaccurate personal data regarding Trump, violating the Data Protection Act 2018 fourth principle. The fourth principle is highlighted in section 38 and says that personal data must be accurate and up to date and if the data is found to be inaccurate, then it must be removed or rectified. The dossier was published without permission from Orbis and Steele, so Orbis can not be legally tried as the controller of the document. This is why Trump is trying to sue individuals involved in the creation of the dossier for defamation (civil law) instead of suing Orbis for a breach of the Data Protection Act (criminal law).
Other Donald Trump legal issues
Donald Trump became president in 2017 after beating Hilary Clinton in the US elections. A 448-page report, called the Mueller report, was published in 2019 stating that Russia had interfered with the 2016 election to favour Trump. During his four year stint, he was impeached twice, both of which he was acquitted during trial.
Trump has also been charged with 91 felony counts across criminals courts in the US and has also been found liable for sexual abusing columnist Elizabeth Jane Caroll earlier this year, with a trial set for January 2024 to determine how much Trump owes Caroll in additional damages on top of $5m that has already been ordered.
However, Trump’s lawyer has said that “none of this is relevant to whether the personal data is accurate” and he intends to “discharge his burden by giving evidence in court”.
Orbis Business International
Orbis Business International was founded in 2009 by former British government officials, Christopher Parker and Christopher Steele. Steele worked at the Russian desk of MI6 between 2006 to his retirement in 2009, where he co-founded Orbis. He had more links to Russia when the English Football Association hired Steele to investigate possible corruption in FIFA after Russia was awarded the 2018 World Cup, after failed bids from the FA.
In Steele’s witness statement, he said the decision to declassify his testimony resulted in several Russian sources being exposed, suffering “varying consequences”. He said: “Two of the named Russian sources have not been seen or heard of since. The publication of this document did serious damage to the US government’s Russian operations and their ability to recruit new Russian sources”.
Decisions from the court will come at a later date.
