Trump lawyer Cohen sues Fusion GPS, BuzzFeed over Steele dossier

Trump lawyer Cohen sues Fusion GPS, BuzzFeed over Steele dossier

Michael Cohen, longtime attorney for President Donald Trump, filed defamation lawsuits Tuesday evening against research firm Fusion GPS and BuzzFeed.

The Fusion GPS lawsuit, which was filed at a federal court level, seeks $100 million in damages. A separate amount in damages for the BuzzFeed lawsuit, which was filed at the state court level, will be determined at trial, according to court documents obtained by POLITICO.

"Enough is enough of the #fake #RussianDossier," Cohen tweeted Tuesday. "Just filed a defamation action against @BuzzFeedNews for publishing the lie filled document on @POTUS @realDonaldTrump and me!"

Fusion GPS commissioned the so-called Steele dossier, a controversial compilation of alleged ties between Trump and Russia. Compiled by Christopher Steele, a former British spy, the dossier has since been a focus of congressional probes investigating whether Russia interfered with the 2016 election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign.

A transcript of the interview with Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson by the Senate Judiciary Committee last summer was published on Tuesday. Simpson told congressional leaders that the FBI found the dossier credible because an undisclosed "human source" associated with Trump had offered the bureau corroborating information.

BuzzFeed published the dossier in January 2017, noting that the allegations were unverified and the report contained errors.

The dossier claims that Cohen met with Russian operatives somewhere in Europe, including Prague, to attend a meeting to “clean up the mess” created by public disclosures of other Trump associates’ reported ties to Russia.

Cohen has denied that a Prague meeting occurred, saying that he has never been to the Czech Republic. In May 2017, Cohen provided a copy of his passport to BuzzFeed that showed it had been stamped for entry and exit to the United Kingdom and Italy.

Cohen alleges he "sustained significant financial and reputational damages" due to the publication of the dossier on BuzzFeed's website, according to court documents in the BuzzFeed lawsuit. In addition, Cohen claims he was subjected to at least two separate congressional investigations, by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, because the dossier was published.

BuzzFeed Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith defended the website's decision to publish the dossier in an op-ed in The New York Times published Tuesday night.

"The dossier is, and continues to be, the subject of active investigations by Congress and intelligence agencies," BuzzFeed spokeswoman Katie Rayford said. "It was presented to two successive presidents, and has been described in detail by news outlets around the world. Its interest to the public is obvious. This is not the first time Trump's personal lawyer has attacked the free press, and we look forward to defending our First Amendment rights in court."

Josh Gerstein contributed to this report.

Original article and pictures take www.politico.com site