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    Christopher Steel Deposition

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    The demand for Steele's testimony was issued at the request of lawyers for Aleksej Gubarev, a Russian internet entrepreneur who was mentioned in the dossier and contends he was libeled by its claims about his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Earlier this year, Gubarev sued BuzzFeed and its editor-in-chief, Ben Smith, in a Florida court over BuzzFeed's publication of the document. Gubarev also sued Steele in a British court.

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    Christopher Steel Deposition

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    Syndicated News
    414 views3 pages
    The demand for Steele's testimony was issued at the request of lawyers for Aleksej Gubarev, a Russian internet entrepreneur who was mentioned in the dossier and contends he was libeled by its claims about his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Earlier this year, Gubarev sued BuzzFeed and its editor-in-chief, Ben Smith, in a Florida court over BuzzFeed's publication of the document. Gubarev also sued Steele in a British court.

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    The demand for Steele's testimony was issued at the request of lawyers for Aleksej Gubarev, a Russian internet entrepreneur who was mentioned in the dossier and contends he was libeled by its claims about his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Earlier this year, Gubarev sued BuzzFeed and its editor-in-chief, Ben Smith, in a Florida court over BuzzFeed's publication of the document. Gubarev also sued Steele in a British court.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    414 views3 pages

    Christopher Steel Deposition

    Uploaded by

    Syndicated News
    The demand for Steele's testimony was issued at the request of lawyers for Aleksej Gubarev, a Russian internet entrepreneur who was mentioned in the dossier and contends he was libeled by its claims about his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Earlier this year, Gubarev sued BuzzFeed and its editor-in-chief, Ben Smith, in a Florida court over BuzzFeed's publication of the document. Gubarev also sued Steele in a British court.

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    You are on page 1of 3

    Case 0:17-cv-60426-UU Document 55 Entered on FLSD Docket 08/10/2017 Page 1 of 3

    UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT


    SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
    MIAMI DIVISION

    )
    ALEKSEJ GUBAREV, XBT HOLDINGS )
    S.A., and WEBZILLA, INC. )
    )
    Plaintiffs, ) Case No.
    )
    v. ) 0:17-cv-60426-UU
    )
    BUZZFEED, INC. and BEN SMITH, )
    )
    Defendants. )

    NON-PARTY CHRISTOPHER STEELES MOTION TO INTERVENE


    FOR THE LIMITED PURPOSE OF OPPOSING REQUEST FOR
    INTERNATIONAL JUDICIAL ASSISTANCE TO COMPEL HIS DEPOSITION

    COMES NOW Christopher Steele, without waiver of personal jurisdiction1, by and

    through his undersigned counsel of record, and, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 24, moves the Court to

    allow his intervention in this action for the sole purpose of objecting to the Courts entry of the

    Request for International Judicial Assistance through The Hague Convention of 18 March 1970

    on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters (Rec. Doc. No. 54, Aug. 10,

    2017) (Hague Request). The Court entered the Hague Request the day following the filing of

    Plaintiffs Motion for Court to Issue Request for International Judicial Assistance on August 9,

    2017 (Rec. Doc. No. 52, Aug. 9, 2017) (Plaintiffs Motion).

    1
    As Plaintiffs admitted, Mr. Steele is a British citizen . . . [and] is beyond the jurisdiction of this or any American
    Court. Plaintiffs Motion for Court to Issue Request for International Judicial Assistance on August 9, 2017 (Rec.
    Doc. No. 52, Aug. 9, 2017) (Plaintiffs Motion). Mr. Steeles special appearance for the limited purpose of
    objecting to Plaintiffs third party discovery attempt does not create general jurisdiction nor waive his personal
    jurisdiction defenses under Fed. R. Civ. Pro. 12.

    1
    Case 0:17-cv-60426-UU Document 55 Entered on FLSD Docket 08/10/2017 Page 2 of 3

    This Court has discretion to refuse the Plaintiffs request seeking to compel discovery from

    a foreign nonparty. See Yellow Pages Photos, Inc. v. Ziplocal, LP, 795 F.3d 1255, 1273 (11th Cir.

    2015) (The decision whether to issue letters rogatory lies within the discretion of the district

    court.). The deposition sought is impermissible and unlawful on multiple grounds, not the least

    of which is that the self-same Plaintiffs have a direct defamation action pending against Mr. Steele

    in the United Kingdom in which the requested deposition is strictly prohibited. Plaintiffs thus are

    seeking to employ this Court in an end-run around their limitations in their parallel U.K. action.

    To more fully itemize and support his objections to the Hague Request, Mr. Steele

    respectfully requests the Court to allow him to file a motion to quash the Hague Request or before

    August 24, 2017 (i.e., within fourteen (14) days).

    Respectfully submitted, this 10th day of August, 2017.

    /s/ Christopher A. Riley


    CHRISTOPHER A. RILEY
    Florida Bar No. 0168165

    OF COUNSEL:

    CHRISTINA HULL EIKHOFF (LEAD ATTORNEY)


    Georgia Bar No. 242539
    KRISTI RAMSAY
    Georgia Bar No. 964749

    Attorneys for Christopher Steele

    ALSTON & BIRD LLP


    1201 West Peachtree Street
    Atlanta, GA 30309-3424
    (404) 881-7000 (telephone)
    (404) 881-7777 (facsimile)

    2
    Case 0:17-cv-60426-UU Document 55 Entered on FLSD Docket 08/10/2017 Page 3 of 3

    CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

    This is to certify that I have this day filed the foregoing MOTION TO INTERVENE OF

    CHRISTOPHER STEELE with the Courts CM/ECF Service, which will provide electronic

    notice to counsel of record this 10th day of August, 2017.

    /s/ Christopher A. Riley


    CHRISTOPHER A. RILEY

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