Russian-Born UK Scholar Sues Alleged FBI Informant, US Media Outlets - Court Filing

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th May, 2019) Svetlana Lokhova, a UK academic born in Russia, has filed a complaint against Stefan Halper, the alleged FBI informant, and several US media outlets, alleging "defamation, common law conspiracy, and tortious interference with contract and reasonable business expectancies" on their behalf.

In the lawsuit, Lokhova sought over $25 million in compensatory damages and punitive damages from Halper and the media outlets, including Dow Jones, The New York Times, The Washington Post and NBCUniversal. Her complaint concerns media reports about her being a spy, acting at the order of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and having an affair with former US National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. The scholar, whose research in Cambridge is dedicated to the history of intelligence work, has previously denied having links to Flynn, who resigned after 23 days in office over charges of lying to the FBI about his meetings with former Russian Ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak, during the transition period following the 2016 US presidential election.

"Stefan Halper is a ratfucker and a spy, who embroiled an innocent woman in a conspiracy to undo the 2016 Presidential election and topple the President of the United States of America. Between January 2016 and May 2018, Halper colluded with rogue agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ('FBI'), with political operatives at Cambridge University, and with 'journalists' employed by the Wall Street Journal, the Guardian, the New York Times, the Washington Post and other mainstream media outlets, to promote a narrative and publish statements about Plaintiff, about United States Army General Michael Flynn ('General Flynn'), and about others - statements that Halper and his confederates knew to be false," the lawsuit filed by the Lokhova via her attorney, read.

In the document, Lokhova denied having an affair with Flynn and acting at the order of the Russian government. The scholar insisted that Halper had spread false information about her and Flynn via media outlets between December 2016 and May 2019.

"The FBI knowingly used Halper's lies and the lies of others as the foundation and basis upon which to begin a 'special investigation' into 'collusion' between the Trump campaign and the Russian government," the filing argued.

In May 2018, media reported that an FBI informant, who is believed to be Halper, met with two campaign aides of US President Donald Trump over suspicions of the team having links with Russia. The president reacted by demanding an investigation into the reports, saying it was "the biggest political scandal of all time."

Last April, US Special Counsel Robert Mueller finalized the report on his investigation into the alleged collusion between the Trump campaign team and Russia, which was vehemently denied by both sides.

The redacted version of the report, which was released to the public, showed that the probe found no evidence of collusion between Trump and his campaign with Russia in the 2016 US presidential election. However, Mueller described 10 episodes that may constitute obstruction of justice by the US president.

Notably, US Attorney General William Barr said after reviewing the facts he concluded that the evidence developed by Mueller failed to establish that Trump committed an obstruction-of-justice offense.