US President Donald Trump’s attorney has sent a cease and desist letter to former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon demanding him to refrain from making “disparaging” comments against him and his family.
Mr. Trump’s attorney has sent Mr. Bannon the letter for his critical comments against the president and his family in a book, ‘Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House’ written by Michael Wolff, which claims that the ultimate goal of Trump was never to win.
The White House has dismissed the book as “fiction”, noting that it is filled with false and misleading accounts from individuals who have no access or influence with the White House.
Mr. Trump’s attorney Charles Harder said a legal notice was issued on Thursday to Mr. 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”.
The letter to 64-year-old Mr. Bannon also states that “remedies for your breach of the agreement include but are not limited to monetary damages”, ABC News reported.
In his letter, Mr. Harder accused Mr. Bannon of breaching the agreement with Mr. Trump.
“You have breached the agreement by, among other things, communicating with author Michael Wolff about Trump, his family members, and the company [the Trump campaign], disclosing confidential information to Wolff, and making disparaging statements and in some cases outright defamatory statements to Wolff about Trump, his family members, and the company,” Mr. Harder wrote to Mr. Bannon.
In the letter, Mr. Harder asks Mr. Bannon to cease publishing defamatory or confidential information and immediately begin preserving relevant documents in support of his allegations.
Mr. Bannon, known for his right-wing views, in his first comment later in the night described Mr. Trump as a great man.
“The President of the United States is a great man. You know I support him day in and day out, whether going through the country giving the Trump miracle speech or on the show or on the website,” told a caller on Brietbart News Tonight show in Sirius XM.
He reiterated his support to Mr. Trump this morning in a radio show.
“Nothing will ever come between us and President Trump and his agenda... we’re tight on this agenda as we’ve ever been,”
However, Mr. Bannon has not responded yet on his critical remarks against the President and the first family in the book, which is set to be released next week.
Soon after excerpts of the book were published by the New York Magazine, Mr. Trump slammed Mr. Bannon in a statement.
“Steve Bannon has nothing to do with me or my presidency.
When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind,” Mr. Trump said in a statement.
Mr. Bannon was the top manager of the Trump campaign and the White House chief strategist in the first seven months of the Trump administration. He was fired on August 18.
Mr. Trump asserted that Mr. Bannon was rarely in a one-on-one meeting with him and only pretends to have had influence to fool a few people with no access and no clue, whom he helped write phony books.
