Banks hits back at ‘fake news’ over his Russia links
I deny recent newspaper allegations and I question the motives of those who seek to discredit me
A REMAIN MP has been accused of creating “fake news” in a row over alleged Russian influence in the campaign to leave the European Union.
Arron Banks, who gave millions of pounds to the Leave.eu campaign, claimed that Damian Collins, chairman of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee, was targeting him because he wanted to reverse Brexit.
Writing in today’s Daily Telegraph, Mr Banks says hysteria was “whipped up” over his contacts with Russian officials before and after the 2016 vote.
He says Mr Collins, who voted Remain, has “taken very seriously various allegations” from a group called the Fair Vote Project, “which is campaigning for a second Brexit referendum”.
The Fair Vote Project in April filed a lawsuit in a Mississippi court against two companies controlled by Mr Banks over claims that the firms “violated UK data protection rules in an attempt to sway the referendum”.
He adds: “It is my belief this group wants to undermine the 2016 referendum result, and it seems that one of its number has decided that discrediting me is the best way to do this. I now believe that, through his disposition towards the Fair Vote project, Damian Collins, as the man conducting an inquiry into fake news, is himself guilty of helping to create fake news.
“I would go so far as to argue that the committee, acting under Collins, may even be in contempt of Parliament.”
Mr Banks confirms he met Alexander Yakovenko, Russia’s ambassador in London, three times – but that he also told the CIA. Mr Banks says: “My intention was to brief them on what the Russians had discussed. I did exactly that.”
The Fair Vote Project did not respond to a request for comment.
Who would have thought that two years after the Brexit vote those on the losing side would be accusing the winners of unethical behaviour and possible criminality? And yet that is exactly what is going on.
On Sunday, stories about me were splashed over three national newspapers suggesting that I, in my capacity as a major donor to the Brexit campaign, was involved in a murky relationship with Russian agents.
The central claim is that I was offered a business opportunity involving six Russian goldmines in exchange for information about Brexit which would benefit the Kremlin. Specifically, it was stated that I met the
Russian ambassador three times, and that this runs contrary to what I wrote in my book The Bad Boys of Brexit, where it is stated that I met him only once. The clear suggestion is that I am guilty of a cover-up.
I hate to break it to the journalists responsible for these stories, but they are mistaken. My book is entirely accurate. At the time its manuscript was completed, I had met Alexander Yakovenko just once, and that was in 2015. I do not deny that two further meetings took place, but they happened after July 31, 2016 – the last diary entry in the book. The book had to end somewhere and it happened to end on that date.
At no point have I sought to hide that I took up other invitations to lunch with the ambassador. Why would I? Perhaps if certain journalists reflected on the fact that I am not a politician, and that there is no register of interests into which I am obliged to declare whose hospitality I accept, those stories would not have been written in the first place.
What I am also able to put on the record now is that I was advised by Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank not to enter into any business deals with the Russians and therefore did not do so. I have never tried to conceal this.
Furthermore – and this may surprise some people – I am happy to reveal that, subsequent to these meetings, I sought, and was granted, a conversation with American intelligence officials in London. My intention was to brief them on what the Russians had discussed with me, and I did exactly that. I believe this was a responsible thing to do and the decision to do so was mine alone. Again, the question must be asked: if my meetings with the Russians had been in any way nefarious, why would I have actively requested such a dialogue with the CIA?
Hysteria around all of this has been whipped up because I am due to give evidence to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee this morning as part of its inquiry into fake news. Under the committee’s Remainsupporting chairman, Damian Collins, it has taken very seriously various allegations from a group called the Fair Vote Project, which is campaigning for a second Brexit referendum.
In April, the Fair Vote Project filed a lawsuit in a Mississippi court against two companies controlled by me. The lawsuit centres on allegations that my firms violated UK data protection rules in an attempt to sway the referendum. I will have some tough words to say to the committee about this today.
What I am able to mention here, however, is that it is my belief this group wants to undermine the 2016 referendum result, and it seems that one of its number has decided that discrediting me is the best way to do this.
In light of this, a key question to which I would like the answer is: why has Damian Collins taken these allegations so seriously? And what prior knowledge, if any, did Mr Collins have of those stories about me which appeared in Sunday’s papers?
I now believe that, through his disposition towards the Fair Vote project, Damian Collins, as the man conducting an inquiry into fake news, is himself guilty of helping to create fake news. I would go so far as to argue that the committee, acting under Collins, may even be in contempt of Parliament.
I am looking forward to putting my side of the story to the committee today – and to discovering more about the true motivations of Mr Collins and his colleagues on the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee, all of whom, I note, voted Remain.
Arron Banks is the co-founder of the Leave.eu campaign