Trump threatens ex-ally #SteveBannon with legal action

US President Donald Trump and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon. File picture: Evan Vucci/AP

US President Donald Trump and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon. File picture: Evan Vucci/AP

Published Jan 5, 2018

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Washington - President Donald Trump's

lawyer said on Thursday he would try to stop publication of a

book that portrays an inept president in a fumbling White House

and threatened legal action against former top aide Steve Bannon

over "defamatory" comments in the book.

"Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House" by author

Michael Wolff set off a political firestorm with its portrayal

of Trump as not particularly wanting to win the U.S. presidency

in 2016 and unprepared for the job.

Some of the harshest commentary came from Bannon, the

right-wing firebrand who headed the final stage of Trump's

campaign and became chief strategist at the White House before

being fired in August.

Charles Harder, Trump's personal lawyer, in a legal notice

provided to Reuters, warned of possible claims including libel

against Wolff and publisher Henry Holt & Co and threatened to

try to block publication of the book. Harder also told Reuters

that "legal action is imminent" against Bannon.

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Henry Holt said in a statement it had received a

cease-and-desist letter from Trump's attorney but would go ahead

with publishing the book.

Earlier, the publishing house said that "due to

unprecedented demand," it would release the book on Friday

morning, rushing it to print after previously planning to put it

out next Tuesday.

Wolff did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump cut ties with Bannon on Wednesday, saying his former

adviser had "lost his mind," in a blistering statement issued

after comments attributed to Bannon in the book were made

public.

I authorized Zero access to White House (actually turned him down many times) for author of phony book! I never spoke to him for book. Full of lies, misrepresentations and sources that don’t exist. Look at this guy’s past and watch what happens to him and Sloppy Steve!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2018

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders heaped scorn on Bannon

and the book at her briefing on Thursday. She said Breitbart

News should consider firing Bannon and attempted to cast doubt

on Wolff's accuracy.

She called the book "some trash" that came from "an author

that no one had ever heard of until today."

"This book is mistake after mistake after mistake," she

said.

Trump lawyers sent a cease-and-desist letter to Bannon on

Wednesday asking him not to disclose any confidential

information. They said Bannon had breached an agreement by

communicating with Wolff about Trump, his family and the

campaign and made "disparaging statements and in some cases

outright defamatory statements" about them.

In the book, Bannon was quoted as describing a June 2016

meeting with a group of Russians at Trump Tower in New York as

"treasonous" and "unpatriotic." The meeting, held after the

Russians promised damaging information on Democratic

presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, was attended by Donald

Trump Jr., Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort,

Trump's campaign manager at the time.

Trump's statement also diminished Bannon's role in the

election victory and accused him of leaking to the media. Before

joining the campaign, Bannon headed the conservative Breitbart

News website and proved to be a divisive figure in the White

House. He returned to Breitbart after being fired, although he

is reported to have continued to talk with Trump.

Bannon's reaction to the book controversy has been muted. In

interviews with Breitbart News after the news broke, he called

Trump a "great man" and pledged continued support for the

president's agenda.

The president took note. "He called me a great man last

night so he obviously changed his tune pretty quick," Trump told

reporters on Thursday. "I don't talk to him. That's a misnomer."

Bradley Moss, a Washington lawyer specialising in national

security law, said any non-disclosure agreement would not apply

to Bannon once he became a government employee. The government

has far less power to limit speech by employees than private

companies, Moss said.

A lawsuit could hurt Trump because Bannon's lawyers would be

entitled to interview White House officials and collect

potentially damaging documents from them in his defense, Moss

said.

"I assume the cease-and-desist letter is aimed primarily at

the public," added Michael Dorf, a professor at Cornell Law

School. "The idea that he could block publication is absurd."

On Thursday, the White House also said no personal devices,

including cellphones, would be allowed in the White House West

Wing beginning next week for security purposes. The moves

followed the Bannon split but had been considered for some time,

White House officials said.

Bannon helped Trump shape a populist, anti-establishment

message and had been the president's link to his hard-line

conservative base of support, which is often at odds with the

Republican Party establishment.

The story that triggered the Trump-Bannon split was an

offshoot of the investigation into whether Trump campaign aides

colluded with Russia to sway the election to Trump, allegations

Trump and Moscow deny.

Manafort and business associate Rick Gates, another campaign

aide, pleaded not guilty in November to federal charges brought

by Special Counsel Robert Mueller including conspiracy to

launder money. Manafort sued Mueller on Wednesday, alleging that

his investigation exceeded its legal authority.

Reuters

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