Trump's legal losing streak continues — a British judge tossed out his lawsuit over the infamous Russia dossier

• A UK judge has thrown out Trump's lawsuit over a 2016 "dirty dossier" compiled by a former spy.
• Ex-MI6 agent Christopher Steele alleged that Trump's presidential campaign colluded with Russia.

Donald Trump's legal troubles are getting worse.

A judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit by Trump that accused a former British spy of making "scandalous claims" about him, including that he took part in sex parties in Russia and bribed officials.

In 2016, Democrats paid former MI6 agent Christopher Steele to create a now infamous "dirty dossier" on Trump, which contained explosive and unverified claims in the lead-up to his 2017 inauguration, according to the Associated Press.

Steele later sent his findings to the FBI, a British national security officer, and an aide to a senior US senator.

The documents, published by BuzzFeed in January 2017, alleged that Trump's presidential campaign team colluded with Russia and that he hired sex workers to urinate on each other in a Moscow hotel suite.

Trump said the dossier was a political witch hunt and he wanted to sue Steele's company, Orbis Business Intelligence, for allegedly violating British data protection laws.

London judge Karen Steyn on Thursday said said there was "no compelling reasons to allow the claim to proceed to trial," AP reported.

Judge Steyn agreed with the defense's stance that the lawsuit should be dismissed because Steele never intended for it to be made public when BuzzFeed published it in 2017.

She added that the former president had allowed several years to pass "without any attempt to vindicate his reputation in this jurisdiction."

Trump previously dismissed the dossier as a "pile of garbage" and publicly accused the FBI of manufacturing the allegations, Business Insider reported in 2019.

His attorney Hugh Tomlinson said Trump had "suffered personal and reputational damage and distress," by the dossier, which he labeled as containing "shocking and scandalous claims," AP reported.

This dismissal matters —Trump has been battling a series of lawsuits and indictments since leaving office. He holds a lead in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, but his legal troubles will mean his time will be split this year between court appearances and campaigning.

The former president faces 91 felony counts in four criminal cases and is implicated in two civil suits.

Most recently, a judge awarded E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million in defamation damages against Trump after he was found guilty of having sexually abused her in the 1990s. The jury agreed that Trump defamed Carroll, a former Elle columnist, by saying she lied about the sexual abuse.

The blow to Trump's legal team comes after The New York Times reported that he obtained $50 million towards legal expenses from his supporters in 2023.

In a statement to Business Insider, Steven Cheung, Trump's campaign spokesman, said: "The High Court in London has found that there was no attempt by Christopher Steele or his group to justify or even attempt to prove their false and defamatory allegations in the fake 'dossier.' "

"The High Court also found that there was processing of those false statements. President Trump's legal team will evaluate the complete judgment as we continue to fight for the truth and against falsehood."

Representatives for Orbis Business Intelligence did not immediately respond to a request for comment.