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Trump made federal employees sign nondisclosure agreements. Theyre supposed to last beyond his presidency.
Reader, it happened. 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 Counsels Office, ultimately complied, concluding that the agreements would likely not be enforceable in any event.
Moreover, said the source, this confidentiality pledge would extend not only after an aides White House service but also beyond the Trump presidency. Its not meant to be constrained by the four years or eight years hes president or the four months or eight months somebody works there. It is meant to survive that.
This is crazy, said attorney Debra Katz, who has represented numerous government whistleblowers and negotiated nondisclosure agreements. The idea of having some kind of economic penalty is an outrageous effort to limit and chill speech. Once again, this president believes employees owe him a personal duty of loyalty, when their duty of loyalty is to the institution.
I havent been able to lay hands on the final agreement, but I do have a copy of a draft, and it is a doozy. It would expose violators to penalties of $10 million, payable to the federal government, for each and any unauthorized revelation of confidential information, defined as all nonpublic information I learn of or gain access to in the course of my official duties in the service of the United States Government on White House staff, including communications .?.?. with members of the press and with employees of federal, state, and local governments. The $10 million figure, I suspect, was watered down in the final version, because the people to whom I have spoken do not remember that jaw-dropping sum.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trumps-nondisclosure-agreements-came-with-him-to-the-white-house/2018/03/18/226f4522-29ee-11e8-b79d-f3d931db7f68_story.html?utm_term=.7348d4185a5c
How is this legal???
dalton99a
(81,062 posts)Not worth the paper it's printed on
octoberlib
(14,971 posts)Stallion
(6,473 posts)arguably the alleged contractual rights of government employees are owned by the public-certainly the written documents produced by government employees are owned by the public
MineralMan
(146,189 posts)testimony. It's crap.
madaboutharry
(40,147 posts)works for Donald Trump. They are employed by the United States government. These agreements are unconstitutional and not worth the paper they are writing.
FakeNoose
(32,328 posts)I'm sure this was in the news even before the inauguration, or just afterwards. It has been well-known how Trump requires new-hires to sign an NDA before they work in the Trump Org. That was also extended to Ivanka's company too.
As people were hired to work in the White House, many of them came over from the campaign, and they all had to sign the NDA. Probably they had to kiss his ass and swear loyalty too.
But lawyers here on DU were saying these NDAs weren't worth the paper they were written on because these people don't work for Trump. They're being hired to work in the US government. I hope they know their rights as US citizens and employees (or former employees) of the US government. He bullies everyone sooner or later.
elleng
(130,126 posts)vowing not to reveal confidential information and exposing them to damages for any violation.'
KG
(28,748 posts)tblue37
(64,979 posts)samnsara
(17,569 posts)..the prez is the gvnts property..he belongs to We The people and he was ( erroneously) hired to do a job for and by us.
MANative
(4,105 posts)marylandblue
(12,344 posts)Kirk Lover
(3,608 posts)octoberlib
(14,971 posts)NewJeffCT
(56,827 posts)it's going to keep some people silent. Why, because if they break the agreement, Trump will sue and they'll be forced to hire lawyers and it will drag on for a while, and then they can potentially get threatened by some random crazy deplorable type.
octoberlib
(14,971 posts)Lawyers of the rich and powerful make a career out of dragging out lawsuits.
dawnie51
(959 posts)and his thug lawyer likes compiling them. They rely on the basic decency of the signer to abide, but of course, Dump and Cohen have NO decency and lie, cheat and steal at every opportunity. A telling case for another way to fleece the rubes; everyone else has to toe the mark, but Dump is above such mundane practices. I hate these slugs.
dameatball
(7,380 posts)unblock
(51,973 posts)is morally and legally repugnant.
bluestarone
(16,720 posts)Gothmog
(143,998 posts)Ferrets are Cool
(21,057 posts)on Ebay one day.
GetRidOfThem
(869 posts)She is a member of the Supreme Court bar, & a former Justice Department prosecutor.
Not enforceable. And most likely under duress, i.e. not even a legal contract.
Marie Marie
(9,999 posts)Really, have you ever heard so many leaks from any other administration?
catbyte
(34,165 posts)little business scams. He can't control anything now and it's driving him berserk. I do have to agree with Trey Gowdy on one thing--if he's so innocent, why doesn't he act like it? Everything that orange buffoon has done since infesting the White House is act like a guilty man. Everything he does--especially in the last couple of months since Mueller didn't go away in the New Year--just screams consciousness of guilt.
What's that saying? He's so crooked that if he swallowed a nail he'd shit out a screw.
Freethinker65
(9,928 posts)No way in hell this is legal.
Sophia4
(3,515 posts)Our system of government is based on the ideal of transparency.
I hope that this will be challenged and brought before a jury.
SunSeeker
(51,367 posts)In hers, the liquidated damages clause is $1 million for every breach, not $10 million. That's why Trump's lawyers claim she owes them $20M. They counted up 20 times she mentioned something covered by the agreement. I imagine they'll claim she owes Trump $20 BILLION after her interview on 60 Minutes airs on March 25.
Hopefully, the outcome of her lawsuit will be a ruling that such NDAs are unenforceable, freeing all WH staff to sing like canaries.