On 3 January
2018 excerpts from a soon to be published book, “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House” were
published in The Guardian newspaper.
The following day brought news of a
letter to former Trump chief strategist Steve
Bannon…..
ABC
News, 4
January 2018:
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."
In the letter to Bannon,
Harder, writes, "You [Bannon] have breached the Agreement by, among other
things, communicating with author Michael Wolff about Mr. Trump, his family
members, and the Company, disclosing Confidential Information to Mr. Wolff, and
making disparaging statements and in some cases outright defamatory statements
to Mr. Wolff about Mr. Trump, his family members, and the Company, knowing that
they would be included in Mr. Wolff’s book and publicity surrounding the
marketing and sale of his book."
Along with a
letter to Macmillan Publishers (Henry Holt & Company INC) and author Michael Wolff…..
CBS
News, 4
January 2018:
President Trump's
personal lawyer has issued a cease and desist letter to author Michael Wolff
and Wolff's publisher over the release of explosive excerpts of "Fire and
Fury: Inside Trump's White House." The letter demands that Wolff and the
publisher halt all publication and apologize to the president for "defaming"
him.
The letter from lawyer
Charles Harder, dated Thursday, comes after excerpts of Wolff's book have cast
the president and much of his White House in an unflattering light, portraying
the commander-in-chief as someone who does not understand constitutional amendments,
and is sometimes not taken seriously by key advisers. The letter accuses Wolff
and Henry Holt and Company of publishing false statements about the
president.
"Your publication
of the false/baseless statements about Mr. Trump gives rise to, among other
claims, defamation by libel, defamation by libel, defamation by libel per
se, false light invasion of privacy, tortious interference with contractural
relations, and inducement of breach contract," the letter says.
Mr. Trump, according to
the letter, demands that publication of the book immediately cease, along with
the publication of any excerpts or summaries. The letter also insists that a
"full and complete retraction" be issued, along with an apology to
Mr. Trump.
The letter also demands
a full electronic copy of the book "in searchable form" be given to
Mr. Trump's lawyers.
Full text of letter here.
What happened after is that in the following order:
1. the book
was published on 5 January 2018 ahead of the previously announced date and bookstores quickly sold out of hard copies on hand;
2. @RealDonaldTrump's thumbs began to work overtime as he began to tweet his displeasure commencing 6 January;
3. Steve
Bannon blinked on 8 January and issued an ‘apology’;
4. Also on 8 January lawyers for Macmillian Publishers formally replied to the 'cease and desist' letter; and
5. Macmillan
Publishers (founded circa 1843) issued this pushback statement on 9 January
Macmillan Publishers’ CEO John Sargent, Twitter, 9 January 2018
The ball is now back with Donald Trump.
Will he be stupid enough to proceed to litigation?
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