In July 2020 Walter Soriano, a businessman based in London, issued proceedings for defamation, misuse of private information, data protection and harassment against six US-based defendants in relation to publication of various online articles. The claims against the sixth defendant, Richard Silverstein, related to two articles entitled “Poor Walter Soriano Beset by ‘Dark, Hidden Forces’” and “Walter Soriano: Bibi’s Bully and Fixer for Putin’s Favourite Oligarch” respectively (the Articles).

In July 2021, Mr Soriano and Mr Silverstein entered into a Settlement Agreement, which provided that Mr Silverstein would not republish the “Allegations” concerning Mr Soriano contained within the Articles or any allegations to similar effect and that Mr Silverstein would not write about Mr Soriano publicly in the future, except to the extent that he would be republishing or reporting assertions that had already been put into the public domain in any media.

The “Allegations” were defined as Mr Soriano making illegal arrangements for corrupt oligarchs, hiring hackers to illegally spy on his clients’ enemies, and making legal arrangements for Oleg Deripaska and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In October 2021, Mr Silverstein published a tweet that stated:

“FBI agents swarm Washington home of Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. Walter Soriano, the shady Israeli tough-guy ‘security consultant’ who sued me in both Israel and the UK has been a major player in … Deripaska’s clique.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/fbi-agents-swarm-d-c-home-russian-oligarch-oleg-deripaska-n1281844 via @nbcnews”.