Trump’s Longtime Lawyer Sues BuzzFeed and the Firm Behind Russia Dossier
- 6 years ago
Trump’s Longtime Lawyer Sues BuzzFeed and the Firm Behind Russia Dossier
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s longtime lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, filed a defamation lawsuit on Tuesday in federal court against Fusion GPS, the firm behind a salacious and largely unsubstantiated dossier
that purported to lay out how Russia had aided the Trump campaign.
The dossier — a set of reports paid for by Democrats — contains unsubstantiated allegations of questionable real estate deals, secret coordination with Russian operatives who hacked Democratic targets during the 2016 election and evenings
that Mr. Trump is said to have spent with prostitutes.
“This is the way Michael Cohen will get back his reputation — through the courts.”
Neither Fusion nor Mr. Steele had any immediate comment on Mr. Cohen’s lawsuit.
Though investigators and journalists have developed extensive evidence linking some of Mr. Trump’s associates to operatives
for the Russian government, no evidence of a direct connection between Mr. Trump himself and the Kremlin has emerged.
The dossier was first published by BuzzFeed last year, and Mr. Cohen also filed a separate suit against BuzzFeed in a New York state court.
And last week, two influential Republican senators made the first known congressional criminal referral in connection with
the meddling — against Christopher Steele, the former British spy who was hired by Fusion and compiled the dossier.
The lawsuit against Fusion is likely to play into what has become a wide-ranging conservative campaign to sow
doubts about the Russia investigations by raising questions about the dossier and those who put it together.
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s longtime lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, filed a defamation lawsuit on Tuesday in federal court against Fusion GPS, the firm behind a salacious and largely unsubstantiated dossier
that purported to lay out how Russia had aided the Trump campaign.
The dossier — a set of reports paid for by Democrats — contains unsubstantiated allegations of questionable real estate deals, secret coordination with Russian operatives who hacked Democratic targets during the 2016 election and evenings
that Mr. Trump is said to have spent with prostitutes.
“This is the way Michael Cohen will get back his reputation — through the courts.”
Neither Fusion nor Mr. Steele had any immediate comment on Mr. Cohen’s lawsuit.
Though investigators and journalists have developed extensive evidence linking some of Mr. Trump’s associates to operatives
for the Russian government, no evidence of a direct connection between Mr. Trump himself and the Kremlin has emerged.
The dossier was first published by BuzzFeed last year, and Mr. Cohen also filed a separate suit against BuzzFeed in a New York state court.
And last week, two influential Republican senators made the first known congressional criminal referral in connection with
the meddling — against Christopher Steele, the former British spy who was hired by Fusion and compiled the dossier.
The lawsuit against Fusion is likely to play into what has become a wide-ranging conservative campaign to sow
doubts about the Russia investigations by raising questions about the dossier and those who put it together.