The allegations were made by Douglas in his journal "Plain English" and later at a public meeting in London. A false report of a crushing British naval defeat had indeed been planted in the New York press by German interests but by this time (following the failure of his Dardanelles Campaign), Churchill was not connected with the Admiralty. As the attorney general asserted in court, on Churchill's behalf, there was "no plot, no phoney communiqué, no stock market raid and no present of fine furniture".