White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Thursday afternoon defended the President’s legal threats against the author and publisher of a new book about his campaign and administration and insisted that President Donald Trump does believe in the First Amendment.
“The President absolutely believes in the First Amendment. But as we’ve said before, the President also believes in making sure that information is accurate before pushing it out as fact when it certainly and clearly is not,” Sanders said when asked about the legal threats and whether Trump believes in the First Amendment.
A lawyer for Trump on Thursday morning sent cease and desist letters to author Michael Wolff and publisher Henry Holt, demanding that they stop printing and releasing Wolff’s forthcoming book about the Trump campaign and administration, “Fire and Fury.” Excerpts from the book published this week paint Trump’s campaign and administration in an unflattering light. The book also quotes former White House adviser Steve Bannon criticizing Trump and his campaign.
Trump’s lawyer, Charles Harder, sent a letter to Bannon on Wednesday night, threatening to sue him over his comments to Wolff. Harder was the lawyer who represented former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan in his legal quest against Gawker. Hogan’s lawsuit against Gawker ultimately forced the gossip news website to shutter.
