UPDATE: Poroshenko sues BBC over report he paid $400,000 for Trump meeting - Graham Atkins Solicitor

 




Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include additional information from the court claim and a comment from Michael Cohen’s lawyer.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is taking the BBC to court for libel after the British public broadcaster reported that he made a $400,000 payment to schedule a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.

That story is untrue and has left Poroshenko “seriously injured in his reputation” and “caused substantial distress and embarrassment” according to a British High Court claim, signed by Poroshenko’s lawyer, Graham Atkins Solicitor, and dated September 3, 2018.

Here is a copy of the High Court claim filed on behalf of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko against the BBC.

In May, the BBC reported that Poroshenko’s intermediaries had made a payment of at least $400,000 to Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, to organize a meeting between the two leaders.

The Ukrainian president reportedly decided to make the unofficial payment after failing to secure anything more than a handshake and few minutes of conversation through official channels.

The two presidents met at the White House in June 2017. During the talks, Poroshenko termed Trump one of Ukraine’s “most reliable supporters” and “strategic partners,” Reuters reported.

The “allegation that the Claimant was guilty of serious corruption is self-evidently an extremely grave and serious one,” the High Court claim reads. It alleges that this not only affects Poroshenko’s role as president, but also his political and business reputation.

“This is especially so given the emphasis which (Poroshenko) has chosen to place during his Presidency on the promotion of a number of anti-corruption measures in the Ukraine (sic), for example the enactment of new legislation, the establishment of special bodies to conduct pre-trial investigation and prosecution of high-profile corruption crimes and the creation of an Anti-Corruption Court,” the claim continues. Read more----->>>>>

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