Add another cut to the thousand or so that those in the anti-Trump camp seem hellbent on inflicting on the former president in an effort to mortally wound him (read: prevent his return to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue next January). In fairness, this latest one is blowback from one of the rare instances in which Donald Trump attempted to go on offense. And thankfully (for his pocketbook), this one is more of a scratch. 

On Thursday, a London judge ordered Trump to pay approximately $382,000 in legal fees to Orbis, the company founded by Christopher Steele, author of the infamous Steele Dossier. 

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 pounds ($382,000), according to court documents released Thursday.

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

...

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.

Trump sued the company, saying the the dossier was phony and Orbis had violated British data protection laws.

Attorney Hugh Tomlinson said at an October hearing that the former president “suffered personal and reputational damage and distress” over claims in the dossier that he’d taken part in “sex parties” in St. Petersburg and consorted with sex workers in Moscow.

Tomlinson said the dossier “contained shocking and scandalous claims about the personal conduct of President Trump” and included allegations he paid bribes to Russian officials to further his business interests.

Similar to the case Trump filed in Florida federal court against Steele, Hillary Clinton, and FBI officials, the London case was dismissed, and Trump's bid to force some legal accountability on the part of those who played key roles in the creation of the Russian collusion narrative fell flat.

One bright spot in this ruling for Trump, though: Judge Karen Steyn reduced the legal fee award by more than half of what Orbis had requested. 

She cut the amount of legal bills Orbis said it incurred — 634,000 pounds ($809,000) — by more than 50% because she said it was high considering there had only been a one-day hearing.  

$382,000 is still a steep price for a one-day hearing (though the bills undoubtedly include initial pleadings and discovery and preparation for said hearing). But compared to some of the other fines being heaped on Trump, it's a relative drop in the bucket. Then, too, I suspect versus the monumental Supreme Court ruling on Monday in his favor, this is a loss Trump is willing to weather.

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