Trump goes full snowflake over ‘Fire and Fury’ as cease-and-desists, lawsuit threats fly
Someone seems a little colic-y!
Yesterday’s news cycle was dominated by a slew of delicious leaks from Michael Wolff’s forthcoming look at the first year of celebrity real estate developer Donald J. Trump’s stint in the White House, “Fire and Fury”. The book seems to have rattled a whole lot of people in the West Wing — most notably, Mr. Trump himself, who is channeling his tantrum through one of lawyers:
Lawyers on behalf of President Donald Trump sent a letter Wednesday night to former White House Chief Strategist Stephen Bannon demanding he refrain from making disparaging comments against the president and his family.
The letter comes after excerpts from a forthcoming book by journalist Michael Wolff were made public Wednesday, causing a stir.
Trump attorney Charles J. Harder of the firm Harder Mirell & Abrams LLP, said in a statement, “This law firm represents President Donald J. Trump and Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. On behalf of our clients, legal notice was issued today to Stephen K. Bannon, that his actions of communicating with author Michael Wolff regarding an upcoming book give rise to numerous legal claims including defamation by libel and slander, and breach of his written confidentiality and non-disparagement agreement with our clients. Legal action is imminent.“
Yeah, that sounds like a well reasoned idea — not!
Well this is stupid.
One, it keeps the story alive and gives Bannon more media oxygen.
Two, the NDA doesn’t apply to anything that happened once Bannon became a federal employee.
Three, do you really want to risk litigation here and subsequent risk of discovery? Really? https://t.co/b2lgtEUwWz
— Bradley P. Moss, Esq (@BradMossEsq) January 4, 2018
In the pre-trial legal procedure of discovery, by law, each party in a lawsuit is able to obtain evidence from the other by requesting documents or depositions. The process could make public yet more information the Trump administration would rather keep private.
Renato Mariotti adds:
This will never actually be litigated—it’s just for show. Trump would not want to be questioned or produce documents about the facts under dispute.
This also makes crystal clear that Bannon is not backing off his remarks or claiming he was misquoted. https://t.co/x4GlokQ7DD
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) January 4, 2018
For those who might think that what Steve Bannon told Wolff is less than true, let Twitter user @aliasvaughn show you otherwise.
In the wee small hours, Axios‘ Mike Allen reported:
Axios has learned that, at Trump’s direction, his lawyers may go after Wolff as soon as today.
He was right. ABC News now reports:
President Donald Trump’s lawyer, Charles Harder, has demanded on behalf of his client that author Michael Wolff and his publisher immediately “cease and desist from any further publication, release or dissemination” of a forthcoming book, “Fire and Fury, according to a letter obtained by ABC News.
The book is scheduled to be released next week but excerpts have caused a stir.
“We are investigating numerous false and/or baseless statements that you have made about Mr. Trump,” the lawyer wrote to Wolff.
Riiight. Good luck getting that genie back in the bottle, Mr. Harder!
