Monday, March 19, 2018

Donald Trump had senior staff sign NDA's, which would extend beyond their time in the White House.

Courtesy of WaPo: 

In the early months of the administration, at the behest of now-President Trump, who was furious over leaks from within the White House, senior White House staff members were asked to, and did, sign nondisclosure agreements vowing not to reveal confidential information and exposing them to damages for any violation. Some balked at first but, pressed by then-Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and the White House Counsel’s Office, ultimately complied, concluding that the agreements would likely not be enforceable in any event.

The nondisclosure agreements, said a person who signed the document, “were meant to be very similar to the ones that some of us signed during the campaign and during the transition. I remember the president saying, ‘Has everybody signed a confidentiality agreement like they did during the campaign or we had at Trump Tower?’ ” 

At that time, in February or March of 2017, the source said, “There was lots of leaking, things that just weren’t true, and a lot of things that were true and should have remained confidential. The president’s point was that they [staff] would think twice about that if they were on the hook for some serious damages.” 

Moreover, said the source, this confidentiality pledge would extend not only after an aide’s White House service but also beyond the Trump presidency. “It’s not meant to be constrained by the four years or eight years he’s president — or the four months or eight months somebody works there. It is meant to survive that.” 

This is extraordinary. Every president inveighs against leakers and bemoans the kiss-and-tell books; no president, to my knowledge, has attempted to impose such a pledge. And while White House staffers have various confidentiality obligations — maintaining the secrecy of classified information or attorney-client privilege, for instance — the notion of imposing a side agreement, supposedly enforceable even after the president leaves office, is not only oppressive but constitutionally repugnant.

The draft of the NDA seen by the reporter for this story levied a fine of 10 million dollars for every unauthorized revelation about Trump or the Trump Administration.

That is beyond punitive, that his draconian.

It is also not enforceable, as explained by this professor of political science:
I am having a hard time getting over the fact that Trump is treating White House personnel in the same way that he treats an adult film actress with whom he had an extra marital affair.

After he does something criminal or despicable, they are just loose ends to be tied up by his attorneys.

Really makes you wonder exactly what Donald Trump is so concerned with people finding out about him, doesn't it?

27 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:44 AM

    aka il·lib·er·al

    'restricting freedom of thought or behavior'

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous9:10 AM

      Reactionary.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:37 AM

      Nothing worse than a troll who is not clever.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous8:55 AM

    "“It’s campaign finance laws,” former prosecutor Hostin explained. “If he paid $130,000 to hush her up, you know, right before the election, I think as the American people we should know if that money was used.”

    Haines noted that the legal claim for $20 million against Daniels seems like a “bullying scheme against a private citizen.” It prompted her to ask what was so explosive that Daniels knows.""You’re on your Make America Horny Again tour, I got it, but I want to know what else you have to say.~ IT’s obnoxious.”

    https://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/view-devolves-chaos-stormy-daniels-meghan-mccain-admits-doesnt-understand-point/

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Edwards_extramarital_affair

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous9:09 AM

    He has been trying to hide his corruption his entire life. The man/child is fundamentally amoral.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sociopath.

      And a malignant narcissist.

      Delete
  4. Anonymous9:13 AM

    The good news - now those folks know that the NDA is not legal and can NOT be inforced - so they can tell all (except of course classified information)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous9:14 AM

    I foresee him being done in eventually. He's not going to last as potus. No way, no how!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous9:15 AM

    He must be in a constant rage. He wants to be a dictator so badly.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous9:24 AM

    More bad behavior from Trump. Once again, no consequences. What Republicans don’t seem to understand is that Trump doesn’t have a conscience. They can’t reign him in with criticism, they have to take action to discipline him personally, or else it won’t stick.

    I like this blog, but I’m going to express an unpopular opinion on the future: Trump is going to fire Mueller. Likely before the end of the month. He’s reached a breaking point, and he’ll lash out.

    And nothing substantial will happen to Trump. From his warped perspective, why the hell would it? This man has never faced any real consequences in his life. He’s not going to start acting as if they exist now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous9:51 AM

      Your opinion may be unpopular but I fear it's spot on. He's amoral and will get away with it. He's incapable of shame. He may not be the billionaire he claims, but he has enough wealth to hire people(lawyers) to insulate him.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:03 AM

      writing is on the wall - Mueller will be fired -- and I do not hold out much hope that the repugs will do anything about it - we will have to hold on until the Nov elections and hope the voting machines and other hacking and gerrymandering don't corrupt all the elections and we get the repugs out enough so they are no longer the majority (the repugs have been totally compromised - part of it could be when the DNC was hacked and emailed stolen and released - that the RNC was also hacked and those emails held to use as blackmail - as well their "finances" tangled with the russians well - lots of dirt to go around - so they have to keep trump propped up to safe themselves)

      Delete
    3. Anonymous10:53 AM

      @9:51 ~IT~ will happen on 'Good Friday' March 30.
      dRUMPf has no real MonEy to pay...

      @10:03
      "While Russians were able to get into the email accounts of some Republican individuals and state-level Republican organizations, they did not break into the Republican National Committee’s current system, according to the director of the FBI.

      Russians did access email domains associated with the RNC that were no longer in use, but the information was outdated and wasn’t released. Additionally, it’s not completely clear why hackers were unable to get into the current RNC.

      The gist of Trump’s claim is correct, but it’s important to keep in mind that Russian hackers did access some Republican data, including the outdated RNC account."

      http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/jan/11/donald-trump/trump-says-russians-were-unable-hack-republican-na/

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:13 AM

      @10:53Am wanna bet it will 'tank'
      the $tockmarkeT tOO? Friday Chao$!
      They will have all '$old Souls to the devil' just before Easter Sunday. "HELLelujah"

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:54 AM

      @11:30 Happing NOW!

      http://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-today-selloff-facebook-data-breach-roils-tech-industry-2018-3

      https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-stock-market-meltup-is-over-morgan-stanley-2018-03-19

      Delete
    6. Anonymous1:45 PM

      @ 9:24 AM - You paint a very dark & disturbing picture of what the future holds for the United States of America; once the number one nation on earth.

      If Trump fires Mueller and gets away scot free, then what hope is there left for justice and rule of law?

      Delete
    7. Anonymous1:53 PM

      The Mueller investigation has also been working cooperatively with the investigation being done by the AG of NY, Eric Schneiderman. Because he is a state employee, Trump has absolutely no control over Schneiderman, who detests the very ground Trump walks on. Schneiderman is a very competent and tenacious attorney who is determined to bring down Trump. He already won a civil suit last year against Trump University.

      In addition, Schneiderman has also been working with the AGs from several other states where Trump has businesses.

      Even if the Republicans allow Trump to fire Mueller and shut down his investigation (which would likely guarantee a Democratic Congress after the 2018 midterms), that would have no effect on any state investigations.

      This a long way from over for Trump.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous4:02 PM

      I am going to be optimistic, if trump fires Mueller it will cause a constitutional crisis and something will be done to trump.

      I think many republicans are too chicken to say anything in public against trump, but in private much is being said.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous9:42 AM

    OT?
    "Orgie Porgie, pudding and pie,
    Kissed the girls and made them cry,
    When the boys came out to play,
    Orgie Porgie ran away."
    "Trump has a lot of fingers in a lot of pies. So do his various family members and the B-list rich guys who round out his Cabinet. So do the wealthy individuals who are donating to his increasingly aggressive fundraising efforts. This creates a lot of potential points of intersection between Trump and his associates and the law — points of intersection that won’t necessarily involve anything as thrilling as Russian espionage, that certainly won’t be investigated by anyone as august as Mueller and his prosecutorial all-star team, and that aren’t being followed intensely by the news media.

    This — in the halls of normal US attorneys’ offices and regulatory agencies — is where the real chilling effect of Trump’s war on the RULE OF LAW is likely to be felt."
    "Were he to be fired, it would be a huge national story with obvious political consequences. What’s more, there’s no good alternative to firing Mueller. You can’t quietly transfer him to the Alaska office or make his life miserable with tedious paperwork. He’ll investigate Trump right up until the day he is fired." " by firing McCabe and Comey on thin pretexts and then more or less immediately admitting that the pretexts were not the real reason, sends a powerful message: He doesn’t care. Everyone working in every federal agency in America knows that fear of being caught isn’t going to stop Trump from engaging in political meddling. If you look into malfeasance committed by a business he owns — or that his son-in-law owns, or one of his friends or donors or other associates — and he gets mad about it, he might stomp on you and not worry too much about the possibility of getting caught. And the mere fact that this is so obvious " " he wants federal public servants, up to and including FBI special agents, to act like they are his personal employees."
    "{Nobody on the GOP side — not Graham, not John McCain, not Jeff Flake, and certainly nobody on the House side of things — has indicated any commitment to insisting that Trump uphold the rule of law overall or a general defense of the integrity and independence of federal law enforcement.

    And yet it’s precisely here that the danger is greatest, of enforcement either being used selectively to punish Trump’s enemies or being ignored selectively to reward his friends." "Trump tends to operate on the principle that audacity will be rewarded and new scandals will always come along to crowd out old ones."

    https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/3/19/17137212/donald-trump-rule-of-law-mccabe-firing-former-fbi-director


    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous10:01 AM

    The trump crime familia is gradually and methodically becoming more exposed for crimes committed.
    Kushner , for false documents ,as a recent example.
    Trump and his thugs have crossed too many lines.
    He has lied and double crossed many allies. He can no longer be trusted by many of his closest circles. Even as a traitor to America, he is becoming a liability to his base and supporters.
    I am confident that he will fall very hard and very soon. Probably through his very own irrational stupidly.
    .

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous10:05 AM

    I think there's something inherently wrong or unconstitutional about signing non-disclosure agreements. No one should be forced to be silent if they become unwittingly involved in or witness to illegal deeds or behavior. I think that "freedom of speech" and the duty towards one's country supersedes the kind of non-disclosure agreement that any member of the trump family or, indeed, any super rich person might demand of his/her employees.
    Beaglemom

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:00 AM

      NDA do not apply for criminal activities - and they do not apply to employees who work for the people (white house staff) -- so as the word gets out hoping those at the white house who want to speak out will learn the truth - the NDA can not be enforced on them

      Delete
  11. Anonymous11:51 AM

    https://www.politicususa.com/2018/03/19/trump-humiliates-himself-two-presidential-terms-seven-years.html

    " “This isn’t about nice anymore, this isn’t about committees, this isn’t about let’s get everybody and have dinners and let’s have everybody go to a blue ribbon committee and everybody gets a medal. We’re frankly doing nothing. This is a tough problem. And if we don’t get tough on these dealers, it’s not going to happen, folks. It’s not going to happen. And I want to win this battle. I don’t want to leave at the end of seven years and have this problem, okay? I don’t want that, RiiiggghhttT?”"

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous1:24 PM

    https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode05a/usc_sup_05_5_10_sq3.html

    "With all those restrictions, the real decision on what to do will be left up to Rosenstein. Rosenstein has the option to release material if he thinks it’s in the public interest, according to the special counsel law."
    "“The president can order him not to release it,” Nourse said. “But that’s a bit like firing Mueller, as many Republicans have warned — it just ups the case for impeachment because the president appears to be hiding something.”

    https://www.vox.com/world/2018/3/19/17139490/mueller-trump-russia-final-report

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous2:04 PM

    "“And actually, anybody can be a Pussy Riot, all of you can be a Pussy Riot.”!!
    “Today, Vladimir Putin won Russian elections for the fourth time, so we created this fucking music band because we didn’t want him to be our president, but then, literally, it became an international movement,” "The group also slammed the wave of violence against women gripping Mexico, where, according to the UN, more than seven women are killed every day."
    "the group were arrested during a performance of their “punk prayer” openly criticizing Putin at Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

    The sentencing of Tolokonnikova, Masha Alyokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich to two years in prison camps for “hooliganism” and “inciting religious hatred” provoked outrage in the West."" Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova spent 22 months in jail before being let out under a general amnesty on the eve of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi."
    {When pooty jizzed in front of the world> CRIMEa!}

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous2:13 PM

    https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/nyc-councilman-probe-kushner-companies

    666

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous3:58 PM

    Trump Demanded NDA's From All Staff; Now They May Have A Lawyer

    .....And now those staffers who signed such an agreement will have access to pro-bono legal help from a lawyer who specializes in this: Newsweek reports that "Mark Zaid, who co-founded the nonprofit law firm Whistleblower Aid, announced via Twitter on Monday that his firm would represent any White House staffer who signed Trump's nondisclosure agreement."

    https://crooksandliars.com/2018/03/trump-demanded-ndas-all-staff-now-they-may

    ReplyDelete

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