close

Politics - News Analysis

Trump’s ‘Secrecy’ Denied: Court Voids Trump’s NDAs With Campaign Employees

By

We have written before and will surely write again, Trump cannot be Trump without secrecy. Many of us assume that Trump’s success lies in his false-bravado, his narcissism, his willingness to lie, or just starting out rich, but the real key to Trump’s success is his ability to maintain secrecy. If one pauses for a moment and considers it, would any of the above be possible without utmost secrecy? No, Trump is the only person of which we know that has nearly everyone he meets (practically), and certainly, everyone that works with him, sign non-disclosure agreements.

Non-disclosure agreements play a legitimate role in society. Certain things occur inside personal businesses that perhaps can be delicate. Primarily they evolved from companies that had technological secrets, patents, or they had customer lists and contact information that take years to compile. They were meant to protect a company’s proprietary information, even something like how a company organizes its teams and assignments may be the product of hard work and study. Gradually people used NDAs more and more to protect personal secrets, some legitimate, some ugly. But Donald Trump made everyone, literally everyone, working around him sign a non-disclosure agreement. He tried it as president in the White House, that didn’t work. The U.S. government doesn’t silence people – ask Alexander Vindman. Trump couldn’t get a court to silence Vindman, he could only fire Vincman after the fact.

But Trump could get campaign workers to sign NDAs. Anyone who wasn’t a government employee, anyone employed by the campaign, was made to sign NDAs. Now we have a judicial ruling that cuts right through the validity of Trump’s non-disclosure agreements as they pertain to the campaign. This ruling must terrify Trump, imagine him without his secrets:

And:

A dam just broke. Imagine the number of campaign workers from the 2020 campaign that might want to come forward now?

A word of caution. This judge’s ruling is not binding on other judges. Additionally, the facts underlying the case play a significant role in whether the NDA can be enforced. If someone needs to report a crime, an NDA isn’t going to stand in the way. But if someone wants to go to a reporter and talk about what they’ve seen, heard, all that? Then it gets down to whether some of these NDAs are enforceable. If one judge finds it unenforceable, there’s surely a legal reason, and the arguments will be used in the next case, and the next case, and the next… Additionally, judges can be persuaded by other district court’s rulings.

It is Trump’s worst nightmare because imagine the secrets that the man carries around. Imagine the people who would dearly love to talk but are terrified that they might be buried by lawyers.

No, a lot of it might be very ugly.

He needs secrecy, he needs it.

****

Peace, y’all
Jason
[email protected] and on Twitter @JasonMiciak

Jason Miciak
meet the author

Jason Miciak is a political writer, features writer, author, and attorney. He is originally from Canada but grew up in the Pacific Northwest. He now enjoys life as a single dad raising a ridiculously-loved young girl on the beaches of the Gulf Coast. He is very much the dreamy mystic, a day without learning is a day not lived. He is passionate about his flower pots and studies philosophical science, religion, and non-mathematical principles of theoretical physics. Dogs, pizza, and love are proof that God exists. "Above all else, love one another."

Comments

Comments are currently closed.

Recent Stories

Trending Stories