tinydancer
Diamond Member
Be still my heart here we go. This defamation lawsuit is a blast. And Comey and Clapper won't be the only ones under the gun. McCain and others are on the list.
BuzzFeed steps up legal fight for feds’ info on Trump dossier
By JOSH GERSTEIN
09/27/2017 05:30 PM EDT
BuzzFeed is escalating its legal battle for details on how the federal government handled a dossier containing salacious allegations about President Donald Trump.
Lawyers for the online news outlet are asking a federal court in Washington to force the Justice Department, the FBI and the director of national intelligence, as well as former FBI Director James Comey and former director of national intelligence James Clapper to answer a series of questions about what officials had done in connection with the dossier as of the time BuzzFeed published it Jan. 10.
BuzzFeed filed a motion to compel the three agencies, Comey and Clapper to respond to subpoenas the media firm issued after it was sued for libel by Russian internet entrepreneur Aleksej Gubarev. He was mentioned in the dossier, which was compiled by former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele and contained information the Russians were said to be collecting to try to blackmail Trump.
Several news outlets, including POLITICO, are suing under the Freedom of Information Act to get records about how the federal government tried to vet the claims in the dossier. However, BuzzFeed’s move could have more legal heft because the web publisher is claiming it needs the information to defend itself in the libel suit, pending in federal court in Miami.
Comey and Clapper have both commented publicly on the dossier, at least in general terms. The former FBI director, who was fired by Trump, has described in a Senate hearing how he briefed Trump on the allegations while he was president-elect. Despite those disclosures, the government is resisting giving any testimony in the BuzzFeed case.
More at link:
BuzzFeed Asks Judge To Force Comey And Clapper To Testify About Dossier
BuzzFeed steps up legal fight for feds’ info on Trump dossier
By JOSH GERSTEIN
09/27/2017 05:30 PM EDT
BuzzFeed is escalating its legal battle for details on how the federal government handled a dossier containing salacious allegations about President Donald Trump.
Lawyers for the online news outlet are asking a federal court in Washington to force the Justice Department, the FBI and the director of national intelligence, as well as former FBI Director James Comey and former director of national intelligence James Clapper to answer a series of questions about what officials had done in connection with the dossier as of the time BuzzFeed published it Jan. 10.
BuzzFeed filed a motion to compel the three agencies, Comey and Clapper to respond to subpoenas the media firm issued after it was sued for libel by Russian internet entrepreneur Aleksej Gubarev. He was mentioned in the dossier, which was compiled by former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele and contained information the Russians were said to be collecting to try to blackmail Trump.
Several news outlets, including POLITICO, are suing under the Freedom of Information Act to get records about how the federal government tried to vet the claims in the dossier. However, BuzzFeed’s move could have more legal heft because the web publisher is claiming it needs the information to defend itself in the libel suit, pending in federal court in Miami.
Comey and Clapper have both commented publicly on the dossier, at least in general terms. The former FBI director, who was fired by Trump, has described in a Senate hearing how he briefed Trump on the allegations while he was president-elect. Despite those disclosures, the government is resisting giving any testimony in the BuzzFeed case.
More at link:
BuzzFeed Asks Judge To Force Comey And Clapper To Testify About Dossier
