The initial hearing for Donald Trump’s legal dispute with Orbis Business Intelligence, a consultancy founded by former MI6 officer Christopher Steele, is set to kick off at the High Court in London. The former U.S. president has lodged a data protection lawsuit against Orbis Business Intelligence, whose founder previously oversaw the Secret Intelligence Service’s Russia desk.
Christopher Steele gained notoriety as the author of the controversial Steele dossier, which contained allegations of Trump’s alleged ties to the Russian security service, the FSB. In 2017, the dossier was leaked to BuzzFeed, alleging that Russian President Vladimir Putin had “supported and directed” a multi-year operation to groom Trump as a presidential candidate. Additionally, it claimed Trump had engaged in compromising activities monitored by the FSB.
Trump vehemently denied these allegations.
The hearing presided over by Justice Steyn, is scheduled to commence at 20:30 AEDT.
It’s worth noting that Steele and Orbis Business Intelligence previously faced a libel lawsuit from Russian national Aleksej Gubarev regarding the dossier’s publication, asserting legal responsibility for BuzzFeed’s decision to publish it. However, Justice Warby dismissed this claim in an October 2020 ruling.