Monday kicked off a two-day hearing in the lawsuit between former President Donald Trump and Christopher Steele after Trump sued the former British spy over the infamous dossier that caused him significant political scandal.
A lawyer for Trump told a London judge on Monday that the former president plans to prove that the Steele dossier contained "shocking and scandalous claims" that there was widespread cooperation between the Russian government and Trump's campaign during his first bid for the presidency in 2016.
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Here's what to know about the dossier, the lawsuit, and the two-day hearing.
What is the Steele dossier?
The Steele dossier, also known as the Trump-Russia dossier, was a controversial political research report written by Steele. The dossier was published as "raw intelligence" that had not been considered "established facts."
It was a collection of 17 memos concerning Trump and Russia between June 20 and Dec. 13, 2016. Steele conducted interviews with unidentified Russian sources. "Raw intelligence" is defined as high-grade gossip without the expectation that it would be made public unless it is verified, per the Washington Post.
The memos alleged that Russia supported Trump and fed him "valuable intelligence" on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who ran against Trump in 2016. The dossier is important because it mirrors a separate report by various U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to bolster Trump and hurt Clinton.
Later, it was revealed that the Democratic National Committee and Clinton's campaign were the "Democratic donors" who paid Fusion GPS for Steele's research. The groups claimed it was for legal services, not opposition research, so the Federal Elections Commission fined Clinton’s treasurer $8,000 and the DNC’s treasurer $105,000 in 2022 for lying about the funding. A “Republican donor” who had earlier hired Fusion GPS for information on Trump was revealed to be the Washington Free Beacon.
What is Trump's lawsuit against Steele?
Trump is suing Steele's company, and seeking damages from Orbis Business Intelligence for allegedly violating British data protection laws.
While Steele has asserted that the allegations have not been disproven, the former president called the claims "wholly untrue" in a written witness statement. He has referred to the dossier as fake news and a political witch hunt in the past.
Trump “suffered personal and reputational damage and distress” because his data protection rights were violated, Trump attorney Hugh Tomlinson said on Monday via Associated Press.
Trump’s case “is that this personal data is egregiously inaccurate,” Tomlinson added.
What Orbis is saying about the lawsuit
On the other side, Orbis is looking to dismiss the lawsuit during the two-day hearing that began on Monday, stating that the claim from Trump was filed too late. The company also argues that the Steele report was never meant to go public and had been published by Buzzfeed without the permission of Steele or Orbis.
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Orbis attorney Antony White said Trump has a “deep and intense animus against” Steele and the firm and “a long history of repeatedly bringing frivolous, meritless, and vexatious claims for the purpose of vexing and harassing perceived enemies and others against whom he bears a grudge," per the Associated Press.
The hearing is taking place in London's High Court. In two previous High Court cases, a judge ruled Orbis and Steele were not legally liable for the consequences that came from the dossier’s publication.