Case 0:17-cv-60426-UU Document 54 Entered on FLSD Docket 08/10/2017 Page 1 of 11

UN ITED STATES DISTRICT COU RT

SOU TH ERN DISTR ICT O F FLOR IDA
M IA M IDIVISION

ALEK SEJG UBA REV ,

XBT H OLDING S.A .,and
W EBZILI/A,INC. Case No.
Plaintiflk.
0:17-cv-6f)426-UU

BUZZFEED.INC.and
BEN SM ITH
Defkndants.

REOUEST FOR INTERNATIONAL JIJDICIAL ASSISTANCE

The United StatesDistrictCourtfortheSouthernDistrictofFlorida(theikDistrict
Cotlrt''orthesicoui 'lpresentsitscomplimentstotheSeniorM asteroftheCourtof
Judicature,Queen'sBench Division and requestsassistance in obtainingevidenceto beused in
a civilproceeding now pending before thisCourt.

rrhe DistrictCourtrequeststhatthe SeniorM asterapprove the Plaintiffs'nom ination of

a practicing Barristerorsuch otherqualified person as the Courtdeems t'

it, to actasExam iner

forthv purpose ofobtaining evidence fortrialfrom one witness,

This requestis made pursuantto, and in conformity w ith The Hague Convention of 18

M arch 1970 on the Taking ofEvidence Abroad in CivilorCom mercialM atters, to which both

the United Statesand the United Kingdom are a party.

The Courtconsidersthatthe evidence soughtisdirectly relevantto the issues in dispute

and is notdiscovery w ithin the m eaning ofArticle 23 ofThe Hague Eviderlce Convention, that

is,discovery intended to Iead to relevantevidence fortrial. It is expected,based on existing

tim etables, that the United States D istrict Coul'

t for the Southern District of Florida

w illcomm ence trialon M arch 19, 2018.

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Case 0:17-cv-60426-UU Document 54 Entered on FLSD Docket 08/10/2017 Page 2 of 11

The particularsofthisHague Evidence Requestare asfollows:

1. Sender: Honorable Ursula Ungaro

Judge,United StatesDistrictCourtforthe
Southern DistrictofFlorida

2. Central A uthority of the CO M PETENT A UTHO RITY FOR

Requested State: ENG LAN D AN D W ALES
SeniorM aster
Queen'sBenchDivision
ROYAL COURTS O F JUSTICE
Strand
London W C2A 2LL
UNITED KINGDOM

O n behalfof:
THE CEN TRA L A UTHO RITY FOR THE
UN ITED KING DOM

HerMajesty'sPrincipalSecretary ofStatefor
Foreign Affairs
FO REIGN AN D CO M M ON W EA LTH
O FFICE
K ing CharlesStreet

London SW IA 2AH ,England,

UN ITED K INGD OM

3. Person to w hom the executed Plaintiff sLegalRepresentative in the UK:

requestis to be returned:
Steven Loble,Esq.
W LegalLim ited
47Red Lion Street
London
W C IR 4PF
Ref. SFL/

onbehalfof:
Honorable Ursula Ungaro
Judge,Un'ited StatesDistrictCourtforthe
Southern DistrictofFlorida

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Case 0:17-cv-60426-UU Document 54 Entered on FLSD Docket 08/10/2017 Page 3 of 11

4. In conform ity with A rticle 3 oftheC onvention, the undersigned applicant

hasthe honor to subm itthe follow ing requests:

5a. R equesting Honorable Ursula Ungaro

JudicialAuthority: United StatesDistrictCourtforthe
Southern DistrictofFlorida
5b. To the com petentauthority of: THE tJN ITED KIN GDOM OF G REA T
BRITAIN A ND NORTHERN IRELAN D
6. Nam es and addresses of the
parties and their
representatives:

a. Plaintiffs: Plaintiffs

R epresented in the US by:

Evan Fray-W itzer,Esq.

CIAM PA FRAY -W ITZER , LLP
20 Park Plaza,Suite 505
Boston,M assachusetts021l6
Telephone:617-426-0000
Facsim ile:617-423-4855
Evan@cFW lwegal.corh
Valentin D.Gurvits,Esq.
M atthew Shayefar,Esq.
BOSTON LAW G RO UP, PC
825 Beacon Street,Suite 20
N ewton Centre,M assachusetts 02459
Teleghone:617-928-1806
Facslm ile:617-928-1802
matt@ bostonlawgroup.com
vgurvits@bostonlawgroup,com
Brady J.Cobb,Esq.
CO BB EDDY,PLLC
642 NortheastThird Avenue
FortLauderdale,Florida33304
Telephone:954-527-41ll
Facsim ile:954-900-5507
bcobb@ cobbeddy.com

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Case 0:17-cv-60426-UU Document 54 Entered on FLSD Docket 08/10/2017 Page 4 of 11

Represented in England by:

Steven Loble,Esq.
W LegalLim ited
47 Red Lion Street
London
W C IR 4PF
Ref. SFL/

b. Defendants:
Defendants

Represented in the US by:

Katherine Bolger,Esq.
Nathan SiegelsEsq.
Adam Lazier,Esq.
DavisW rightTrem aine, LLP
l25lA ven'ue ofthe Am ericas
2lstFloor
N ew York,New York 10020-1104
212.489.8230
212.489.8340 fax

Lawrence Kellogg,Esq.
Levine Kellogg Lehm an Schneider &
G rossm an LLP
201South Biscayne Boulevard
22nd Floor
M iam i,FL 33131
Nature and purpose ofthe proceedingsand sum m ary ofthe facts:

This civilaction concernsallegationsofdefam ation and defam ation perse arisi

ng outof
the publication by Buzzfeed ofan onlinearticle entitled, d'These ReportsAllege Trum p Has

Deep TiesTo Russia.'' Theonline Article attached a35- page idossier''ofinformation com piled

by aprivate security com pany, OrbisBusinesslntelligence Ltd., Iocated at9-l1 Grosvenor

Gardens,London SW IW OBD . M ore specifically,thedossierisbelieved to have been com piled

by and atthe direction ofChristopherSteele, adirectorofOrbis.

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Case 0:17-cv-60426-UU Document 54 Entered on FLSD Docket 08/10/2017 Page 5 of 11

The dossierincluded variousallegationsconcerning, am ong otherthings,allegationsof

com puterhacking ofthe Dem ocratic Party allegedly carried outby personsororganizations with
tiesto Russia,the Russian Governm ent, and/orthe FederalSecurity Service ofthe Russian

Federation (iiFsB'').Thedossierincludedthefollowing:
IkedactedlreportedthatovertheperiodMarch-september2016a company
.

calledxBT/Webzillaanditsam liateshadbeenusing botnetaandporn/rtzf/3cto

tran -
sm itviruses,plantbugs,stealdata and conduct Ialtering operations''against
the Democratic 't7r/)zleadershi
. p.Entitiesll
hkedtooneAlexeiGUBAROVJJ/W
were involved and he and anotherhacking expert, b0th recruited underduressby
t
PheFSB,SevaD PSUGOVICR weresign6cantplayersi nthisoperation. In
rague,COHEN agreedcontingencyplansforvariousscenariostoprotectthe
operations,butinparticularwhatwl, &to be done in the eventthatHillary
CfIN TON won (hepresidency. Itwtz.
simportantin thiseventthataIlcash
payments owed were made quickly and discreetly and thatcyberand other
operatorswdrcstooddown/abletogoep ctivelytogroundtocovertheirtraces .

The Plaintiffshave alleged thatthese statem entsare withoutbasisin fact which form s
,

thebasisoftheirdefbm ation action in the Court.

PARTIES

Plaintiffs:

A LEKSEJ GUBA REV ,

XBT HOLDIN G S.A.,and
W EBZILLA ,INC.

D efendants:

BUZZFEED INC.and
BENSMITII

PLA INTIFFS'A LLEG ATIO NS

Plainiffs'allegationsare asfollow s:

On January l0,20l7,Buzzfeed and M r. Sm ith published an online article entitled

,

iiTheseReportsAllegeTrump HasDeep TiesToRussia''(theiDefamatoryArticle'') Atthe .

tim ethe Com plaintwasfiled, the Defamatory Article had been viewed m ore than 5.9 m illion

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Case 0:17-cv-60426-UU Document 54 Entered on FLSD Docket 08/10/2017 Page 6 of 11

times.The Defam atory A rticle attached a 35-page unverifed tsdossier''ofinform ation com piled

by aprivate security com pany.

The dossierincluded various allegationsconcerning among otherthings,allegationsof

,

com puterhacking ofthe Dem ocratic Party allegedly carried outb)'pe

rsonsororganizationsw ith
tiesto Russia, the Russian Governm ent, and/orthe FederalSecurity Service ofthe Russian

Federation(%%FSB'').'W ithrespecttothePlaintiffs, thedossierincludedthefollow ingassertions

offact:

l'
redacted)reportedthatovertheperiodM arch-septem ber2016a company
calledxBT/Webzilla and itsas li
ateshadbeenusingbotnetsandporn/m//icto
transm itviruses,plantbugs,stealdata and conduct ''altering operations''a
theD emocratic pJr/ gainst
.p I
eadership.Entitieslinked to one zl/E've/
wereinvolvedandheand anotherhacking expert .
'GUBAROV J
l c/ .
, b0th recruited underduressby
t
PheFSB,SevaD PSUGOVICR weresi gn6cantplayersinthisoperation. In
rague,COHEN agreedcontingencyplansforvariousscenariostoprotectthe
operations,buiinparticularwhatwtu to be done in theeventthatHillar
CLINTON woz?thepresidency.Itwl, y
:importantin this eventthata1lcash
paymentsowed weremade quickly and discreetly and thattyerand other
operatorswerestooddown/abletogoeyectivelytogroundtocovertheirtraces .

Notasingleportion ofthisstatement(asitappliesto M r. Gubarev,XBT,orW ebzilla)

hasany basisin factwhatsoever. Specifically:

NeitherXBT norW ebzilla norany oftheiraffiliates had been ii

using botnets and
porn /rzl
f/'c to transmitviruses,plntbugs,stealdata and conduct *
altering
operations'''againstthe Dem ocratic Party leadership oranyone else;
N o S'entities linked''to M r. G ubarev w ere involved in any alleged cyber-attacks;

Mr.Gubarev wasnotirecruitedunderduressby theFSB ''(to beclear, he was

notrecruited ataIl- whetherunderduressorotherwise), norwas he recrui
ted for
such activities by anyone else at any other tim e or in any other circum stances
whatsoever. A dditionally, he has no knowledge of, has never m etand has never
spoken to a person known asSeva Kapsugovich;
d. M
t r.G ubarev and hiscom panieshave neveracted w ith kanotherhacking expert''
o m ount a cyber-attack on the Dem ocratic Party Leadtrship or on any other
person;and
Not having been involved in the activities atlributed to them in the ddossier,''
neither M r.Gubarev nor any ofhis com panies would have had any need to iigo

'The FSB isthemain successoragency to th

eUSSR'SCommitteeofStateSecurity($$KGB'').

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Case 0:17-cv-60426-UU Document 54 Entered on FLSD Docket 08/10/2017 Page 7 of 11

efctively togroundtoc/vcrtheirtraces''intheeventthatMs Clinton won the

.
presidency.
A lthough Buzzfeed and M r. Sm ith claim thatthey had the dossierin theirpossession for

weekspriorto itspublication, and despite theirclaim sthatthey had fourreportersworking nea

r
full-time on attem pting to verify the claim sm ade in the dossier priorto publishing the
,

Defam atory Article and the dossier, neitherBuzzfeed norM r. Sm ith contacted the Plaintiffsto

determ ine ifthe allegationsm ade againstthem had any basisin fact.

Atthe time the Defendantspublished the Defam atory Article and accom panying

dossier,they knew,w ithouta doubt, thatatIeastcertain portionsofthe dossierwere untrue

.

Indeed,the Defam atory Article stated specifically that:

The dossier,which isa collection ofmtm oswritten ovtra period ofm onths,includes
s
ipecific,unverified,and potentially unverifiableallegations. . . BuzzFeed New sreporters
hn the US and Europe have been investigating variousalleged facts in the dossierbut
ave notverified orfalsified them . . . .(Thedossier)isnotjustunconfirmed:Itincl udes
some clearerrors.

Plaintiffs seek recovery from Defendants fordam age to theirpersonal, professional,and

corporate reputations,asw ellasforem otionaldistress, lostproflts,lossofcorporate

opportunities,punitive damages, otherconsequentialdam agesand costsand attorney'sfees

.

Plaintiffsexpecttheirdamagesto totalin the tensofm illionsofdollars.

STAG E O F TH E PR O CEEDIN G S

This action w as com menced by the filing ofa Complaint by the Plaintiffs on February

28,2017. The Partiesexchanged written discovery, with discovery responsesbeing filed by both
sides in July of 2017. Depositions have not yet taken place; discovery is scheduled to be

concluded by N ovem ber22,2017. Trialin thiscase issetto starton M arch 19, 2018.

The Court expects the Parties to abide by aIldiscovery deadlines no- ithstanding

any com plications that may arise the course of obtaining the evidence described in this

Request.

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Case 0:17-cv-60426-UU Document 54 Entered on FLSD Docket 08/10/2017 Page 8 of 11

Because M r. Steele is a defendant in related-

case pending in London, he is in an
adversarial posture to the Plaintiffs ands as such, requests for voluntary com pliance w ith the

taking ofhisdeposition would be futile.

A s M rSteele isnotw ithin the subpoena pow erofthe U nited StatesD istrictCourtforthe

Southern Districtof Florida the only opportunity to obtain his evidence for trial is to exam int

him in England pursuantto this letterofrequest.

TH E W ITNESS

Christopher Steele, c/o Orbis Business Intelligence Ltd

., l
ocated at 9-1l Grosvenor
Gardens,London SW IW 0BD

LIST O F SUBJECTS FOR OR AL EXAM INATIO N

The United StatesD istrictCourtforthe Southern DistrictofFlorida requeststhat

ChristopherSteele beordered to attend forexam ination to gi
ve evidence aboutthe following
m atters:

M r Steele's educationalbackground, em ploym tnt history,professionalqualiGcations

personalpreparation forthe deposition (to include any contactsthe witnessmay h ,
had with the parties, their lawyers, insurers or representatives ave
, but excluding any
privilegedcontentofsuchcommunications) .

The instructions given to M r Steele and his com pany to prepare the dossier and the
reasonsforthe preparation ofthe dossier.
The paym ents made to M rSteeleand hiscompany forthe dossier.
4. The stepsM rSteele took to obtain inform ation forthe dossitr.

M r.Steele'spreparation ofthe dossier.

6. M r.Steele'ssolicitation ofinformation forthe dossier.

M r.Steele'ssources ofinformation forthe dossier.

8. Mr.Steele'sefforts(orlackofefforts)toverify allegationsinthedossier.
9. M r.Steele'swork to verify allegationsin the dossier.
10. M r.Steele'sclientsw ith respectto the dossier.

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Case 0:17-cv-60426-UU Document 54 Entered on FLSD Docket 08/10/2017 Page 9 of 11

1l. Theprovision ofthe dossierto Fusion G PS.

The provision ofthe dossierto m edia outlets.

l3. The provision ofthe dossierto otherthird parties.

M r.ai
cont Steele'
ned s ei
thercom
n.munications w ith others concerning the dossier and the allegations

Forthe reasonssetforth above, the United StatesD istrictCourtforthe D istrictof

believesthatthewitnesses(whosecontactdetailsaregivenbelow)willbeabletoprovide
evidence directly relevantto the m ain issuesbetween the partiesand withoutw hich the endsof

justicecouldnotbeproperlymet. TheUnitedStatesDistrictCourtfortheDistrictof
believesthatthis information isnotavailable from any other source.

8. Evidence to be obtained: Plaintiffs seeks testim ony from

ChristopherSteele.

9. Identity and addresses of persons ChristopherSteele

to be exam ined: Orbis Business lntelligence Ltd., located
at 9-l1 Grosvenor Gardens, London
SW IW 0BD

10. Subject matter about which the Pleaseseelistofsubjectsitemizedabove .

w itnesseswillbe exam ined:

Any requirem entthatthe evidence Testim ony isto be provided underthe

be given on oath or afsrm ation painsandpenaltiesofper jury.The
and any specisc form to be used: witnessm ay swearoraffirm to the
truthfulnessofthe testim ony given
12. Special m ethods or procedures to .
be followed:

The United States DistrictCourtforthe Southern DistrictofFlorida respectfully requests

assistance in appointing an English Exam inerforthe pum ose ofcom pelling oraltestim ony foruse

at trial from English w itnesses. The United States D istrict Court for the Southern District of

Florida furtherrequeststhatPlaintiffs'counsel,Steven Loble

, a solicitor
with the London flrm of W Legal Lim ited, arrange for the nom ination of an Examiner in this

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Case 0:17-cv-60426-UU Document 54 Entered on FLSD Docket 08/10/2017 Page 10 of 11

matter. This Request is m ade pursuant to, and in conformity with Articlt l8 of The Hague
,

Evidence Convention of M arch I8, 1970;theEvidence(ProceedingsinOtherJurisdi

ctions)Act
l975,the Rules ofthe United StatesD istrictCourtforthe DistrictofCourtOrder70;and Rule 34
,

paragraphs6 and 8 ofthe CivilProcedure Rules.

The United States DistrictCourtforthe Southern D istrictofFlorida furtherrequeststhat

the parties'representativesortheirdsignets, a courtreporter,and a videographerbe perm itted

to be present during the exam ination; that the representativ

es or designees be perm itted to
exam ine and cross-exam ine the witnesses directly;and thata court
reporterand a videographer
be perm itted to m akea verbatim record ofthe proceedings.

13. Reques
ti t for notification of the Itis requested thattestim ony be taken at such
mes and place for the place, date ortim c as ordered by the Senior
execut
id ion of the Request and M aster and/or as otherwise scheduled by the
entity of the person to be rtprestntatives of the Plaintiffs and/or as
notified: otherw ise agreed to by the w itnesses and the
respective representativesofthe Parties.

Notice thereof should be made to Plaintiffs'

UK designee:

Steven Loble,Esq.
W LegalLimited
47 Red Lion Street
London
W C IR 4PF
Ref SFL/
14. Request for attendance or N one.
participation of judicial
personnel of the requesting
authority atthe execution ofthe
Letter ofRequest:

15. Speciflcation of privilege or Underthe lawsofthe United States

, a part
y
duty to refuse to give evidence
under the Iaw s of the State of h asajrivilegetorefusetogiveevidenceif
the evldence disclosesa confidential
origin: com munication between thatparty and an
attorneyforthatqartythatwasmadeforthe
purpose ofobtainlng legaladvice.

Partiesalsoenjoylimitedprivilegesonother

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Case 0:17-cv-60426-UU Document 54 Entered on FLSD Docket 08/10/2017 Page 11 of 11

groundsnotrelevanthere such as
com m unicationsbetween physician and
patient,psychotherapistand patient, husband
and wife,orclergy and penitent.

US law also recognizes a privilege against

crim inalself-incrim ination.

Outside the strict area of priviltge, certain

lim ited im m unities are available that m ay
place restrictions on the giving of evidence,
such as the lim ited protection of docum ents
created as the work product of attorneys
during orin anticipation oflitigation.

16. The fees and costs incurred Plaintiffs

which are reim bursable under
the second paragraph of Article
14 or under Article 26 of the
Convention w illbe borne by:

Date ofRequest: , 20l7

18. Signature and seal of the o orable udgeg Ursula Ungar

Requesting Authority: UN ITED STATES DISTRICT O URT FOR
THE SOTHERN DISTRICT OF FLO RIDA

This Court expresses its appreciation to you for your courtesy

and assistance in this
matterand statesthat,pursuantto the authority of28 U .S.C.j l782,itstandsready and willing

to do the sam e foryou in a sim ilarmatterwhen required.

Jose Conway

Aug 10, 2017

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