Steele Dossier Author Wins $380K in UK Court Against Trump
Former US President Donald Trump has been ordered by a UK judge to pay more than $380,000 to a company run by Christopher Steele, the former British spy who authored the controversial dossier that alleged Trump's ties to Russia.
Trump had sued Orbis Business Intelligence, Steele's firm, in a London court in 2022, claiming that the dossier violated his privacy rights and damaged his reputation.
He sought damages and an injunction to prevent the publication of the dossier.
However, in February, Justice Karen Steyn dismissed Trump's claim, ruling that he had failed to show that the dossier was inaccurate or that Orbis had acted maliciously.
She also found that Trump had no reasonable expectation of privacy in relation to the matters in the dossier, which were of public interest.
On Thursday, the judge issued an order requiring Trump to pay Orbis GBP 300,000, or about $384,000, to cover its legal costs.
She gave Trump 28 days to make the payment, which adds to his mounting legal troubles in the US and abroad.
The dossier, which was commissioned by a research firm hired by Trump's political opponents, consisted of 17 memos that detailed various allegations of Trump's connections to Russia, including claims that he had been compromised by the Kremlin.
The dossier was published by BuzzFeed News in January 2017, shortly before Trump took office.The dossier sparked investigations by the FBI and the US Congress into Trump's campaign and its possible coordination with Russia to interfere in the 2016 election.
Trump has repeatedly denied the allegations in the dossier and called it a "hoax" and a "witch hunt".
Steele, a former MI6 officer who specialized in Russia, has defended his work and said he stands by the dossier.
He has also faced lawsuits from other parties named in the dossier, such as Russian businessmen and a Russian bank, but most of them have been dismissed or settled.
Neither Trump's lawyer in the UK nor Orbis Business Intelligence responded to requests for comment.
