A Russian-tied tech firm named in a controversial dossier containing uncorroborated allegations about President Donald Trump and the hacking of Democratic National Committee email accounts announced late Friday that is has filed defamation suits against the online news site BuzzFeed, its editor-in-chief and a former British intelligence agent.
The lawsuits were brought by XBT Holdings, a Cyprus-based company owned by Russian tech magnate Aleksej Gubarev. His firm filed complaints Friday in London and in Broward County Circuit Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where its Webzilla subsidiary is headquartered.
“The dossier included libelous, unverified and untrue allegations regarding XBT, Webzilla and Gubarev. The lawsuits seek yet undetermined compensation for the damages suffered by XBT, Webzilla and Gubarev as the result of the publication of the dossier,” a statement said.
Editor-in-chief Ben Smith and New York-based Buzzfeed, which published the dossier in full on Jan. 10, weren’t alone. Ex-spy Christopher Steele and his company Orbis Business Intelligence in London were named as defendants.
In a statement to McClatchy, BuzzFeed spokesman Matt Mittenthal said, “We have redacted Mr. Gubarev’s name from the published dossier, and apologize for including it.”
Steele is a former British intelligence agent who conducted opposition research on behalf of Trump political opponents from both political parties. The dossier, which was shared privately with reporters, lawmakers and law enforcement, exploded into the national debate after FBI director James Comey briefed President Barack Obama and then President-elect Donald Trump on its contents.
Among other things, the document alleged, without corroboration, that the Trump campaign worked with the Kremlin on penetrating Democratic National Committee computers.
“We were shocked to see our good name wrongly included and published in this unsubstantiated report. We are confident that the courts will review the evidence of our non-involvement and provide fair and reasonable compensation from the perpetrators of this outrageous allegation.”
The dossier suggested that several Trump campaign aides were aware of the Russian hacking scheme – allegations that Trump dismissed as “garbage.”
Kevin G. Hall: 202-383-6038, @KevinGHall
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