After President Donald Trump viciously denounced Steve Bannon over the former White House adviser’s comments in a forthcoming book, a lawyer for the President threatened legal action against Bannon in a Wednesday night letter.
In the letter first reported by ABC News, attorney Charles Harder said that Trump would sue Bannon for defamation and breaking a confidentiality agreement.
“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. Legal action is imminent,” Harder said in a statement to ABC News.
Harder told Bannon that he must stop sharing confidential and defamatory information and should preserve records to prepare for the coming lawsuit.
Trump waged war on Bannon Wednesday following the release of excerpts from a new book highlighting comments from Bannon criticizing Trump and his administration. Bannon spoke with journalist Michael Wolff for the book “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House” and charged that the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Trump campaign members and a Kremlin-linked lawyer was “treasonous.” An excerpt published by New York Magazine also gave the impression that Bannon did not take Trump seriously and that Bannon played a major role in Trump’s first moves as president.
Shortly after the excerpt was published, Trump disavowed Bannon and said that he had “lost his mind.”
“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,” Trump said in a statement.
The President went on to claim that Bannon had little to do with his 2016 victory and trash Bannon’s political prowess.
