Former President Trump Ordered to Pay £300,000 in Legal Fees to Orbis Business Intelligence
A London judge, Karen Steyn, has issued an order for former President Donald Trump to pay a substantial amount in legal fees to Orbis Business Intelligence, a company he had sued over a contentious dossier containing unsubstantiated and scandalous allegations against him. According to court documents made public on Thursday, Trump has been ordered to pay £300,000 ($385,000) as a result of the dismissal of his case against Christopher Steele and Orbis Business Intelligence.
Background of the Legal Dispute
After dismissing Trump’s case against Steele and his company in March 2023, Judge Karen Steyn ordered the former president to pay this significant sum. The total costs for Orbis Business Intelligence from the lawsuit were £636,356.66 ($816,000), but the company had requested that Trump repay £444,000 ($569,000) of that amount. Trump’s legal team argued that these costs were disproportionate since the case had been dismissed prior to any defense being filed. Ultimately, Steyn ordered Trump to pay less than half of Orbis Business Intelligence’s stated costs.
The Controversial Dossier
Trump filed a data privacy lawsuit against Steele and Orbis Business Intelligence in September 2022, alleging harm to his reputation due to the dissemination of unproven assertions regarding his Russian ties. The basis for these claims could be traced back to the Steele dossier, a compilation of unverified intelligence that former British spy Christopher Steele secretly produced on behalf of Trump’s political opponents during the 2016 election. The dossier, which contained various allegations that Trump conspired with Russia to secure his presidency and that Moscow held compromising information on him, became public just days before his inauguration in 2017.
The Validity of the Claims and Steele’s Position
Despite the central allegations in the dossier initially receiving some credibility due to Steele’s reputation, subsequent US government investigations and lawsuits have undermined many of these claims. This has also called into question the reliability of Steele’s sources. Steele, on his part, has consistently maintained in public statements that the claims were unverified tips meant for further investigation and not intended for release to the public.
Trump’s Legal Penalties in 2023
This latest order comes following Trump already facing substantial financial repercussions from other legal actions. He has been ordered to pay E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million in damages for a civil defamation case and a separate £355 million ($456 million) judgment following a New York civil fraud trial. Trump also faces his own legal costs in the 91 charges he is facing in four criminal cases.
It is important to note that this article is written for informational purposes only, and any potential legal implications should be discussed with a qualified attorney.
