Arron Banks may have been ‘used and exploited’ by Russia, court hears

Arron Banks. Cadwalladr said she had obtained intelligence files from an organisation contracted to undertake work countering Russian disinformation in Europe. Photograph: Tayfun Salcı/Zuma/Rex/Shutterstock

The Observer and Guardian journalist Carole Cadwalladr has told a court she believes the multimillionaire Brexit backer Arron Banks may have been “used and exploited” by the Russian government, as she defended her reporting.

Banks, who funded the Leave.EU campaign group, is suing Cadwalladr for defamation over two instances in which she said the businessman was lying about his relationship with the Russian state.