The owners of a Russian bank are suing BuzzFeed for defamation for details contained in a dossier earlier this year.
Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven and German Khan, who own Alfa Bank, filed the lawsuit in state court in Manhattan, Politico reported. The bank owners are also seeking damages from BuzzFeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith, reporter Ken Bensinger, and editors Miriam Elder and Mark Schoofs.
The dossier published by BuzzFeed contained claims that the bank owners were involved in bribing Russian President Vladimir Putin several years ago and played a role in Russia’s alleged scheme to influence last year’s election.
The lawsuit specifically references Smith’s admission that they published the dossier despite knowing some parts of it were wrong.
“The Article clearly states that the allegations contained in the Dossier were unverified and that the Dossier itself contained errors, including the repeated misspelling of Alfa’s name, and could not be verified despite substantial efforts,” Alan Lewis and John Walsh of Carter Ledyard and Milburn, lawyers for the firm representing the bank owners said in the complaint. “The false and defamatory statements published by Defendants of and concerning the Plaintiffs and Alfa, and the implications of those defamatory statements, were made with knowledge of their falsity or with reckless disregard of whether they were true or false.”
In a statement to Politico, BuzzFeed defended its decision to publish the dossier.
“The head of a Russian bank sued our news organization for publishing a document that alleges financial ties between Putin, Trump, and Russian entities — including this very bank,” BuzzFeed spokesman Matt Mittenthal said. “Given that the allegations contained in the dossier were presented to successive presidents and remain under active investigation by intelligence agencies and Congress, there is little doubt that their publication was and continues to be in the public interest. That makes it all the more important that this shameless attempt to bully and intimidate BuzzFeed News not have a chilling effect on other journalists who continue to report this important story.”
The dossier, which BuzzFeed published earlier this year, is a collection of memos from a British intelligence agent. The dossier alleged ties between Putin, President Trump and other Russian entities.
