Jan. 4 (UPI) — President Donald Trump‘s former chief strategist Steve Bannon received a cease and desist letter Wednesday for violating a non-disclosure agreement he signed prior to joining the president’s 2016 campaign.
The letter was sent after Bannon was extensively quoted in an upcoming book by Michael Wolff, in which he criticized Trump’s son, Donald Trump, Jr., and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Trump’s lawyer, Charles Harder, said the non-disclosure agreement specified that Bannon couldn’t make disparaging remarks about Trump’s family to the media.
“You [Bannon] have breached the Agreement by, among other things, communicating with author Michael Wolff about Mr. Trump, his family members, and the Company, disclosing Confidential Information to Mr. Wolff, and making disparaging statements and in some cases outright defamatory statements to Mr. Wolff about Mr. Trump, his family members, and the Company, knowing that they would be included in Mr. Wolff’s book and publicity surrounding the marketing and sale of his book.” Harder wrote, according to ABC News.
In a statement regarding the letter, Harder said, “legal action is imminent.”
“This law firm represents President Donald J. Trump and Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. On behalf of our clients, legal notice was issued today to Stephen K. 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.,” Harder said, according to CNN.
Earlier Wednesday, Trump released a statement in response to Bannon’s comments in the book and harshly criticized his former staff member, who was dismissed from his role in August.
“Steve Bannon has nothing to do with me or my presidency,” the statement said. “When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind.”
