CASE CLOSED

Russian Businessman Loses Libel Lawsuit Over Steele Dossier

A High Court judge said Aleksej Gubarev failed to prove that the publication of the dossier was Christopher Steele’s responsibility.

Russian businessman Aleksej Gubarev has lost his libel lawsuit against Christopher Steele, the ex-Secret Intelligence Service agent who compiled a dossier on President Donald Trump that alleged Gubarev was involved in hacking the Democratic Party’s computer system. Steele’s dossier was published by BuzzFeed News in 2017, with claims that Gubarev’s tech company, Webzilla, played a role in the DNC hack by installing porn and spyware in the system. Gubarev then sued Steele for “seriously defamatory allegations” that he had “knowing involvement” in the hack. A High Court judge ruled Friday that the accusations against Gubarev in the dossier were “defamatory of Mr Gubarev at common law, and its publication in this jurisdiction and the EU caused serious harm to his reputation.” However, he didn’t prove that the publication of the dossier was Steele’s responsibility, the judge said. “He would have been entitled to substantial damages, if he had proved that the defendants are responsible in law for the publication complained of,” the judge ruled. “But he has failed to prove that. So, Mr. Gubarev’s claim must be dismissed.”