Katy Tur has a warning:
A note of caution on Fire and Fury pic.twitter.com/o9OzV7ltWm
— Katy Tur (@KatyTurNBC) January 3, 2018
Author Note 1/3 pic.twitter.com/555fXUyc4W
— Katy Tur (@KatyTurNBC) January 3, 2018
2/3 pic.twitter.com/5dSpVmLB80
— Katy Tur (@KatyTurNBC) January 3, 2018
3/3 pic.twitter.com/YkhreQpEpA
— Katy Tur (@KatyTurNBC) January 3, 2018
That is good to keep in mind. However, that is not preventing Trump’s lawyers from threatening litigation.
They have issued cease and desist letters to Steve Bannon, as well as Michael Wolff (the author) and the book’s publisher (see below).
The letter to Bannon says that Bannon violated an non-disclosure agreement as part of his employment contract. It’s a stupid thing to do. A cease and desist letter really has no value — it is used to scare people who can’t afford to be sued. Bannon is a man of means — this will not scare him.
Nor should it. Trump is a public figure. Suing for defamation, as the letter threatens, could require Trump to prove that a statement made by Bannon was false, damaging and delivered with actual malice, meaning that Bannon knew his comments were false and made them anyway.
Suing Bannon for breaking an employment contract would be even more problematic. To say that Bannon breached a contract sends a signal that there’s some truth there in what he’s saying.
Bannon’s speech stemming from his time in the White House would probably be protected. A government employee’s free-speech rights are protected by the Constitution’s First Amendment insofar as they pertain to matters of public concern, the Supreme Court ruled in 2006 in a case called Garcetti v. Ceballos. The behavior of the president — and especially his campaign’s involvement with the Russians — are undoubtedly a matter of public concern.
Then there’s The Defend Trade Secrets Act, signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2016, provides immunity to whistleblower employees who report suspected illegal activity. That might or might not apply to Bannon. But either way, his lawyers would argue that it did.
So Bannon is in the clear and the letter sent out is, no doubt, to appease an angry Trump who likely insisted on it.
Trump’s claims in his lawyers’ letter to Wolff and the publisher are even more meritless. He is claiming “defamation by libel”. It is not clear what claims in the book he is referring to. But in any event, Trump really does not want to depositions taken from everybody mentioned in the book, so they can repeat their claims — and possibly new ones — under oath. Besides, Trump is a public figure. Good luck with that.
Oh, and according to Axios: