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Businessman linked to the false Donald Trump 'golden showers' claims celebrates a dramatic twist in his lawsuit over the Mueller report
The Mueller report pegged him as a Russian who was connected to rumors of a ‘golden showers’ tape involving Donald Trump – but now a Georgian-American businessman can sue for a retraction after a U.S. Appeals Court ruled in his favor.
The businessman, Giorgi Rtskhiladze, was the subject of an infamous footnote in the Mueller report about alleged ‘tapes’ involving Donald Trump in Moscow. It cited his communications with former Trump fixer Michael Cohen about stopping the flow of ‘tapes’ from Russia. But the errors were potentially harmful enough that Rtskhiladze can go ahead with his claim, the panel found.
He is now moving forward with his legal action after U.S. appeals court panel said he could seek a retraction, he tells DailyMail.com.
Rtskhiladze was quoted texting with Cohen in 2016 about stopping the ‘flow of tapes from Russia’ in the report – in a line Rtskhiladze said damaged his reputation and botched his actual communication with the former Trump lawyer.
The Appeals Court ruling ‘was a significant victory for common ground in our deeply divided country,’ he said in a statement to DailyMail.com, after a panel of judges appointed by Trump, Preisdent Joe Biden, and President Barack Obama ruled unanimously in his favor.
Giorgian-American businessman Giorgi Rtskhiladze can sue the Justice Department seeking a retraction to the Mueller Report, which inaccurately labeled him as Russian and quoted him texting about stopping the 'flow' of tapes from Moscow
‘This ruling asserts my firm belief that you don’t need a law degree to understand the extent of reputational damage I have suffered since April 2019 when the DOJ released the “misleading” Footnote 112 of the Mueller Report to the general public where I am labeled as a nefarious Russian businessman who in the interest of the Kremlin might have tampered with so called “Golden Shower” tapes of the sitting president, Donald J. Trump, as part of the Russian Collusion narrative fueled by the unverified and debunked Steel Dossier,’ he said.
He called the ruling a ‘moral’ victory for his wife and family, saying it has ‘renewed our faith in our country’s rule of law and gave us a sense of peace back.’ Another error in the footnote continues to gnaw at him. ‘I am not Russian, I am a US citizen of a Georgian descent,' he said.
The three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the Justice Department ‘does little to dispute that Rtskhiladze has alleged an injury caused by the Mueller Report. It also cast aside DOJ’s argument that the error in the Mueller report was corrected in a later lengthy Senate report on the Russian election interference.
‘We disagree. A government report (like the Senate Report) does not extinguish the harm from an earlier government report (like the Mueller Report) “where reputational injury derives directly from an unexpired and unretracted government action.’ The Mueller Report remains ‘unexpired and unretracted,’ they wrote, and the Senate couldn’t retract a DOJ report anyway.
Rtskhiladze wants DOJ to retract a footnote that connected him to unverified rumors about 'tapes' from Trump's trip to Moscow
The messages with Cohen, obtained earlier by DailyMail.com, show Rtskhiladze told Cohen: 'Stopped flow of some tapes.' His legal team argued DOJ mischaracterized his message by omitting the word 'some'
'Congress neither speaks for DOJ, nor speaks infallibly. Either way, a court could redress the ongoing injury by ordering DOJ to correct the Mueller Report,' wrote Judge Justin Walker, a Trump appointee.
The ruling gave a green light to an actual retraction, with the panel saying a lower court ‘could redress the ongoing injury by ordering DOJ to correct the Mueller Report.’
Rtskhiladze has 12 days from Friday’s ruling to file suit.
Said his spokeswoman Melanie Bonvicino, ‘The U.S. appeals court ruling confirmed that my client Giorgi Rtskhiladze has standing to pursue vigorous legal course against the DOJ and Robert Mueller. Upcoming legal filings shall include proof of ‘intentional’ and ‘willful’ conduct by the former special counsel,’ she said.
Other parts of the ruling didn't go his way. The court panel agreed 'with the district court that Rtskhiladze has failed to state a claim for damages.' Even though he had standing to sue, he 'has failed to plausibly state a claim for monetary relief,' according to the court, which reaffirmed the lower court's dismissal.
It also found the lower court did not err when it ruled he was 'not entitled to obtain a copy of his grand jury transcript,' which he had been seeking. It was 'not an abuse of discretion,' the court found.