Former U.S. President Donald Trump has been ordered by a London judge to pay a legal bill of 300,000 pounds ($382,000) to Orbis Business Intelligence, a company founded by a former British spy. Trump had sued Orbis for allegedly making false claims that damaged his reputation, but the case was dismissed last month by the judge who deemed it 'bound to fail.'
This legal ruling comes amidst a series of legal challenges facing Trump in the United States. He is currently charged in four criminal cases and faces a civil complaint. Additionally, he recently lost a defamation case and was ordered to pay $355 million after a fraud verdict against his businesses.
In the case against Orbis, Trump claimed that the company's dossier, compiled by Christopher Steele, contained phony information that violated British data protection laws. The dossier included allegations of Trump's involvement in 'sex parties' and bribery of Russian officials.
Orbis argued that the dossier was never intended for public release and was published without their consent by BuzzFeed. The judge sided with Orbis, stating that the lawsuit was filed too late and that the legal costs claimed by the company were excessive.
This legal battle in London is one of the few instances where Trump was not a defendant, as he continues to grapple with ongoing legal troubles in the U.S. In a separate case in 2022, a federal judge in Florida dismissed a lawsuit by Trump against Steele, Hillary Clinton, and former FBI officials, rejecting his claims of a conspiracy to undermine his administration through the Russia investigation.
