Former President Donald Trump has been ordered to pay a six-figure legal bill to a company founded by a former British spy that he unsuccessfully sued for making what his lawyer called “shocking and scandalous" false claims that harmed his reputation.
A London judge, who threw out the case against Orbis Business Intelligence last month saying it was “bound to fail," ordered Trump to pay legal fees of 300,000 pounds ($382,000), according to court documents released Thursday.
In the British court case, Trump had gone on the offensive and sued Orbis, which was founded by Christopher Steele, who once ran the Russia desk for Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6.
Steele was paid by Democrats for research that included salacious allegations Russians could potentially use to blackmail Trump. The research, dubbed the Steele dossier, that was assembled in 2016 created a political storm just before Trump's inauguration with rumors and uncorroborated allegations that have since been discredited.
Trump sued the company, saying the the dossier was phony and Orbis had violated British data protection laws.
Attorney Hugh Tomlinson said at an October hearing that the former president “suffered personal and reputational damage and distress” over claims in the dossier that he’d taken part in “sex parties” in St. Petersburg and consorted with sex workers in Moscow.
Tomlinson said the dossier “contained shocking and scandalous claims about the personal conduct of President Trump” and included allegations he paid bribes to Russian officials to further his business interests.
Orbis said the lawsuit should be thrown out because the report was never meant to be made public and was published by BuzzFeed without the permission of Steele or Orbis. It also said the claim was filed too late.
Judge Karen Steyn, who sided with Orbis in her Feb. 1 ruling, issued an order several days later on the legal costs.
She cut the amount of legal bills Orbis said it incurred — 634,000 pounds ($809,000) — by more than 50% because she said it was high considering there had only been a one-day hearing.
In 2022, a U.S. federal judge in Florida dismissed a Trump lawsuit against Steele, 2016 Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and former top FBI officials, rejecting his claims that they helped concoct the Russia investigation that overshadowed much of his administration.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.