AP seeks dismissal of Russian’s suit

WASHINGTON — The Associated Press on Monday asked a judge to dismiss a libel lawsuit brought by a Russian billionaire with ties to President Vladimir Putin, calling the case “intrusive, expensive and chilling” with no legitimate claim of defamation.

Aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska sued in May over an AP report two months earlier that revealed his past business connections to Paul Manafort, the former campaign chairman for Donald Trump. He said the story was inaccurate and had hurt his career by falsely accusing him of criminal activity.

The AP has stood by the story as accurate, and in court papers filed Monday, lawyers for the news cooperative said Deripaska was challenging the story based on his own “strained implications” and incorrect inferences, rather than on information actually conveyed in the report.