UK judge orders Trump to pay $380K to man who penned infamous ‘Steele Dossier’
Written by ABC Audio All Rights Reserved on March 9, 2024
(LONDON) — Former President Donald Trump’s escalating legal penalties are a little larger after a judge in the United Kingdom ordered him to pay more than $380,000 to a firm run by Christopher Steele, the ex-British spy who penned the infamous 2016 dossier accusing Trump of harboring close ties to the Russians.
Trump sued Steele’s firm, Orbis Business Intelligence, in a London court in 2022 over claims that the series of memos known as the “Steele Dossier” harmed his reputation and violated British data privacy laws.
But in February, Justice Karen Steyn tossed the suit — without determining whether the allegations in the dossier were true or false — and ordered Trump to compensate Steele for his legal fees.
According to the judge’s order, which was made public Thursday, the judge gave Trump 28 days to execute the payment of GBP 300,000, which equates to roughly $384,000.
Last month Trump was fined a total of $464 million in disgorgement and interest in his civil fraud case brought by the New York attorney general, and this week he posted a $91 million bond to cover the judgment plus interest in writer E. Jean Carroll’s defamation case while he pursues an appeal.
Neither Trump’s U.K.-based attorney nor Orbis Business Intelligence responded to a request for comment from ABC News.
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