title: JUST IN: Fusion GPS Sued By 3 Billionaires Over Their “Defamation” In War Against Trump
text: ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES:Three Russian billionaires are hitting back after they say they were defamed by the opposition research firm Fusion GPS. The Russians  lawsuit says the dossier s assertions  falsely accuse  the three and Alfa  of criminal conduct and alleged cooperation with the  Kremlin  to influence the 2016 presidential election.  It says Fusion recklessly spread the charges to journalists.FUSION GPS FEELS THE KARMA:Fusion GPS, the producer of the infamous fake Trump dossier, is fending off in court three of Russia s richest oligarchs by painting them as corrupt bankers in bed with President Vladimir Putin.The three primary investors in Moscow s Alfa Bank   Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven and German Khan   filed a libel lawsuit against Fusion in October. Fusion s dossier, written by former British spy Christopher Steele, says two of them engineered cash bribes to Mr. Putin. The dossier also implies that the bank colluded with Mr. Putin to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election by hacking Democratic Party computers.The lawsuit describes the three billionaires as international businessmen who became  collateral damage  in Fusion s war to destroy the Donald Trump campaign. This is a defamation case brought by three international businessmen who were defamed in widely disseminated political research reports commissioned by political opponents of candidate Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election cycle,  says a Dec. 12 filing in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The reports are gravely damaging in that, directly or by implication, they falsely accuse the plaintiffs   and Alfa, a consortium in which the plaintiffs are investors   of criminal conduct and alleged cooperation with  Kremlin  to influence the 2016 presidential election,  says the complaint by the New York law firm Carter Ledyard & Milburn.Fusion responded in court by relying on Wikipedia and its press citations to paint a dark picture of three oligarchs who, the media say, capitalized on Russia s freewheeling post-communism era to engage in financial scandals. Fusion depicted the three as publicity-seeking financial titans who are public figures under U.S. law.Unlike private citizens, public figures face a high bar in libel lawsuits. In this case, the Russian businessmen, if deemed public figures, must prove that Fusion spread the dossier charges with malice   meaning the opposition research firm knew its accusations were untrue or showed reckless disregard for the truth.THREE BILLIONAIRES: Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven and German Khan are three of the most prominent oligarchs in Russian history,  the Fusion memo states.  With their incredible wealth and political power, each has had a pronounced influence on the economic and political affairs of Russia.   Any search returns an avalanche of articles about their business endeavors, their wealth, their political and economic power, their close relationship with the Kremlin and their misconduct. At issue is Mr. Steele s September 2016 writings devoted to Alfa (which he wrongly spells Alpha), one of 17 memos making up the dossier from June to December 2016.He states that the Alfa Bank paid  illicit cash  directly from Mr. Fridman and Mr. Aven to Mr. Putin via Oleg Govorun, now a senior Kremlin figure,  throughout the 1990s. Mr. Govorun s official resume states that he was an executive for Alfa only from 1997 to 2000.Mr. Steele titled the September memo,  Presidential Election: Kremlin-Alpha Group Co-Operation. READ MORE: WT