President Donald Trump's personal attorney has dropped a defamation lawsuit against BuzzFeed over the publication of a "dossier" alleging ties between the Trump campaign and Russiahttps://t.co/jm7dxVhX6f
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) April 19, 2018
Michael Cohen was suing Fusion GPS and BuzzFeed over the publication of and allegations made in the Steele dossier. Not anymore.
Michael Cohen on Wednesday discontinued the lawsuit against BuzzFeed, which published the full report last year, and Fusion GPS, a private intelligence firm connected to the dossier. Cohen’s decision comes a week after the FBI raided his office and seized documents, putting him in the crosshairs of a criminal investigation.
Cohen’s lawyer spoke to BuzzFeed and said they still believe they defamed Cohen, but they need to use all their resources to focus on the, um, latest developments.
“The decision to voluntarily discontinue these cases was a difficult one,” Cohen’s attorney David Schwartz told BuzzFeed News. “We believe the defendants defamed my client, and vindicating Mr. Cohen’s rights was — and still remains — important. But given the events that have unfolded, and the time, attention, and resources needed to prosecute these matters, we have dismissed the matters, despite their merits.”
Of course, now everyone is all, “SEE?! This means the Steele dossier is TRUUUUUUE!”
Cohen dropping the case against Buzzfeed and Fusion GPS is basically him admitting he went to Prague. The entire case was based on him not going to Prague.
This is huge and collaborates Reports that Mueller has evidence he was in fact in Prague.
The Dossier verified again!
— Brian Krassenstein🐬 (@krassenstein) April 19, 2018
BuzzFeed and Fusion GPS produced stories that @michaelcohen212 travelled to Prague to meet Russians to help @realdonaldtrump. Cohen files a lawsuit trying to intimidate them and said it was lie. FBI conducts a legal search on Cohen's premises. Cohen drops law suit. BINGO
— 🌊 Patriotic Moose&Lamb 🌊 (@GinoKusa) April 19, 2018
Michael Cohen has dropped a pair of libel suits against BuzzFeed and Fusion GPS over publication of the Steele dossier. https://t.co/A3aj6uxKSM
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 19, 2018
Sh*t getting real, real fast!
“Letting go of the defamation suit could give Cohen more time to focus on a number of high-profile cases against him.” https://t.co/9YzjJ0UXr9— Amy Siskind (@Amy_Siskind) April 19, 2018
Michael Cohen drops libel suits against BuzzFeed and Fusion GPS.
Cases concerned claims about Cohen in Steele dossier, including his alleged trip to Prague. https://t.co/YIyiYxGNsi— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) April 19, 2018
Michael Cohen has dropped his defamation lawsuits against Buzzfeed and Fusion GPS over a dossier of information about contacts between Trump and Russia https://t.co/htjdfbt6xt pic.twitter.com/aj4n3ZEBBm
— Bloomberg (@business) April 19, 2018
So the raid on Cohen was a government play to stop lawsuits against Buzzfeed and Fusion GPS This gets more and more scary by the day
— DSM IV (@Stathies) April 19, 2018
BuzzFeed News spokesperson Matt Mittenthal also released a statement.
“The lawsuits against BuzzFeed over the Steele dossier have never been about the merits of our decision to publish it,” Mittenthal said. “If there’s one thing Democrats and Republicans agree on today, it’s that the dossier was an important part of the government’s investigation into potential collusion between the Trump Campaign and Russia. Its interest to the public is, and always has been, obvious. Today’s news suggests that Donald Trump’s personal lawyer no longer thinks an attack on the free press is worth his time.”
Eh. It sounds like he just needs to use all his resources elsewhere. He’s gotta focus on Stormy. Let’s be honest.
h/t BuzzFeed