Former British spy Christopher Steele defeated a defamation lawsuit brought by the billionaire owners of Moscow-based Alfa-Bank over the dossier Steele compiled that examined then-presidential candidate Donald Trump's ties to Russia and Vladimir Putin.
A District of Columbia Superior Court judge on Monday dismissed the lawsuit brought by German Khan, Mikhal Fridman and Petr Aven, agreeing with Steele that his report serves the public interest because it relates to possible Russian influence with the 2016 presidential election and Russian oligarchs' involvement with the Russian government. In addition, plaintiffs didn't provide evidence that Steele acted with malice, the judge said.
Superior Court Judge Anthony Epstein didn't address whether the information in the Steele dossier was accurate, only whether Steele's sharing of the report with the media was protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.