NEW YORK, July 14 (UPI) — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump wants money from a former adviser for an alleged breach of contract — an accusation the defendant says is nothing more than a revenge tactic by the New York billionaire.
A source close to Trump confirmed the lawsuit, The Washington Post reported Wednesday, which seeks $10 million in damages from former strategic adviser Sam Nunberg.
The claim is being made to the American Arbitration Association.
Last summer, Nunberg was dismissed by Trump’s campaign after making what Trump viewed as racially insensitive remarks on social media. Months later, Page Six reported a story that claimed two high-ranking members of the Trump campaign had engaged in a love affair and, later, a public shouting match.
“He’s violated his agreement and you know we have taken swift and appropriate action,” Alan Garten, executive vice president and general counsel at The Trump Organization, told USA Today. “We intend to pursue this to the very end.”
In his documents, Nunberg denies that he leaked the story.
“I did not provide the New York Post with any information concerning that embarrassing and lurid event,” he said. “This tawdry public incident … occurred well after the termination of my consulting agreement.”
Nunberg also said in the filing that he believes the move for confidential arbitration is nothing more than a payback attempt by Trump for the publicity surrounding the leaked story — and for Nunberg supporting rival GOP candidate Ted Cruz after he was let go.
“The Trump campaign is misguidedly and improperly attempting to use the sword of private arbitration proceeding against me to silence media coverage of a loud and angry argument on a public street between [the two staffers] concerning their sordid and apparently illicit affair, which … was witnessed by another Trump campaign staffer,” he noted in the papers, which were filed in New York Supreme Court.
Nunberg is also seeking $10 million from Trump in compensatory damages, The Washington Post’s report said.
