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Compromise? Trump, Putin and the Steele dossier
The friendly relationship between the US President and Russia’s head of state has long aroused distrust. Above all, a document that has become notorious feeds speculation.
Friendship, public purpose or dependency? It is not only since the second term of the second term of US President Donald Trump about the nature of the relationship between the Republican and the Russian President Vladimir Putin. Inexplicably friendly, many find, the leader of the western world is faced with the Russian head of state.
Does Trump just find Putin personable – and maybe please his leadership style? Does he owe him something? Or may he be afraid of Russians? Wild speculation that the Russian secret service could have compromising material (“compromise”) about Trump, with which he put it under pressure, were mainly promoted by the so-called Steele dossier.
Trump spoke of “fake news” and “witch hunt”
The actually confidential document from 2016 by the British ex-intelligence officer Christopher Steele circulated among journalists before it was published by the online medium “Buzzfeed” in 2017.
Tenor of the 35 -page document is the unproven assumption that Putin has promoted Trump in order to split the transatlantic alliance and to be able to return to a great power policy as in the 19th century. However, an independent, detailed examination of US special investigators Robert Mueller did not provide any evidence of criminal acts by the Trump team.
The Steele dossier commissioned organizations in the area of the democratic campaign campaign by Hillary Clinton. This also contains very specific claims about alleged sex escapades in Trump in Russia from the time before his election as US president.
According to an investigation by the US Ministry of Justice, the Federal Police FBI, which Steele referred to the alleged findings, doubted their reliability. Accordingly, it could even be a deliberate disinformation campaign from Moscow. In US media, the dossier is therefore often referred to as “discredited”. Trump described the claims as “fake news” and spoke of a “witch hunt”.
“Golden showers” should not have existed
Nevertheless, the dossier made headlines further into the past year. The background was a civil lawsuit of Trump in Great Britain against Steele’s company Orbis Business Intelligence. In a written admission, Trump also commented on concrete claims from the dossier.
“I can confirm that I never took part in perverse sexual behavior, including the payment of prostitutes, to organize” golden showers “in the presidential suite of a hotel in Moscow,” the BBC Trump quoted from a court document. Nothing of the things described in the dossier therefore took place, according to Trump.
“Golden Show” means urinating the sexual pleasure gain. According to the Steele dossier, the Russian secret service FSB could have recordings from a corresponding sex party from 2013. According to the High Court judgment, the claims from Trump complained about the dossier included those about other sex parties in St. Petersburg and alleged bribery of Russian official employees.
Trump should pay procedural costs
In the lawsuit in Great Britain, the then presidential candidate accused the company of having illegally used private data and demanded compensation for pain and suffering for the loss of reputation. Trump wants to restore his reputation, said his lawyer, according to the British news agency PA.
However, the lawsuit failed at an early stage due to a question of procedure. Trump had just waited too long. It was obliged to pay 626,000 pounds (around 727,000 euros) in procedural costs. According to Orbis Intelligence, he has not yet paid.
dpa
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
