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Russian Oligarchs Dismiss Kremlin Links in Trump Dossier Case

Russian Oligarchs Dismiss Kremlin Links in Trump Dossier Case

(Bloomberg) -- A trio of Russian billionaires named by former British spy Christopher Steele in his dossier about alleged ties between Moscow and Donald Trump’s campaign aren’t “creatures of the Kremlin,” their lawyer said at the start of a London trial.

Mikhail Fridman and his fellow Alfa Group billionaire Petr Aven arranged for the delivery of “large amounts of illicit cash” to Vladimir Putin in the 1990s, Steele said in his report. The allegation was “demonstrably false” and the two, plus a third director, German Khan, “had nothing to do with any of this,” their attorney said Monday.

While none of the directors are close confidants of the Russian president, Putin “values” Aven’s views on economics, Hugh Tomlinson, an attorney for the three, said.

“The purpose of this action is to clear their names,” he said.

The claims “make people think they have this corrupt relationship with President Putin,” Tomlinson said, but the directors’ relationship with Russia’s leaders was no more than that of a typical business group with government. The three are also claiming compensation for misuse of their data, he said.

The three lost a libel lawsuit in the U.S. over similar issues after a judge ruled that the dossier served the public interest by examining possible Russian influence with the 2016 presidential election.

Steele, who Trump once called a “lowlife,” was retained by a Washington-based research firm, Fusion GPS, in June 2016 to examine Trump’s links to Russia. The Democratic National Committee and the campaign of Hillary Clinton hired Fusion after Trump was headed for the nomination.

Steele said the claim should be dismissed because the subject matter fell within the remit of national security.

“These disclosures were very clearly made for the purposes of safeguarding the national security of the U.S. and U.K.,” his attorney, Gavin Millar, said in a legal filing.

Fridman said that since publication of the dossier he had “effectively been blocked from carrying out any significant business activity in the U.S.”

The billionaire, who is Jewish and born in Ukraine, said he was always considered an “outsider by the Russian establishment.” He said he’d never sought political favors from the Russian government.

“I think being too close to power is a risky long-term strategy,” he said in his witness statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Browning in London at jbrowning9@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net, Christopher Elser

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