Orbis, founded by former MI6 spy Christopher Steele, compiled allegedly damaging intelligence on Trump in 2016



Former US president Donald Trump has been ordered to pay a six-figure legal bill to a company founded by a former British spy whom Trump 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 ($382,000), according to court documents released on Thursday.


Orbis was founded by Christopher Steele, who once ran the Russia desk for Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6.


The British court case was one of few in which Trump, who is almost sure to win the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, was not a defendant as he faces massive legal problems back home.


Trump is charged in four criminal cases and faces a civil complaint in US courts. He lost a subsequent defamation case in which a jury found him liable for sexual abuse, and has been ordered to pay $355m after a fraud verdict against his businesses.


In England, he had gone on the offensive and sued Orbis.


Steele was paid by Democrats for research that included salacious allegations Russians could potentially use to blackmail Trump. The so-called Steele dossier assembled in 2016 created a political storm just before Trump’s inauguration with rumors and uncorroborated allegations that have since been largely discredited.