- The Washington Times - Tuesday, August 21, 2018

A federal judge dismissed a case Monday against the author of the infamous Trump dossier brought by three Russian oligarchs, according to multiple news reports.

The Russian billionaires, who are financially linked to Alfa Bank in Moscow, claimed Christopher Steele and his firm defamed them in his dossier about then-candidate Donald Trump during the 2016 election.

Judge Anthony C. Epstein dismissed their case, saying the First Amendment protected free speech and the Russians did not prove Mr. Steele acted with reckless disregard of the truth.

Mikhail Fridman, German Khan and Petr Aven were the oligarchs involved in the lawsuit, according to The Guardian.

The judge did not determine if the dossier was accurate or fake.

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, though, dismissed its validity Tuesday.

“The ridiculous dossier, may I remind your audience, it’s just a fancy French word for a load of crap,” she told Fox News.

Dave Boyer contributed to this story.

• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.

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