COURT BATTLE

Former White House Aide Cliff Sims Sues Trump Over Legal Threat Against Tell-All Book

The “Team of Vipers” author is accusing Trump of using his campaign as an illegal “cutout” to silence him.

A former White House communications aide who wrote a tell-all book about working in the Trump administration has filed a lawsuit against President Trump alleging that he sought to “silence” former employees by using his campaign organization as a “cutout.” Team of Vipers author Cliff Sims filed the lawsuit Monday after the Trump campaign filed an arbitration claim against him last week, claiming he had violated a non-disclosure agreement by publishing his book. Sims has accused Trump of violating his First Amendment rights—with the campaign serving as an “illegitimate cutout” to enforce NDAs and seek retribution against former employees. In the document, Sims said he “cannot definitively recall” if he signed an NDA drafted by the White House Counsel’s Office—but did acknowledge that he signed one when he joined the campaign that barred him from “disclosure of ‘confidential’ information or the disparagement of the Trump Campaign, President Trump, or his family.” The complaint further claimed the campaign was “acting at the president’s behest”—as evidenced by Trump’s public disapproval of Sims’ book—and “concealing” Trump’s official involvement to silence Sims “in a manner that would otherwise be unavailable under existing First Amendment case law.”

INEVITABLE

Trump Tried but Couldn’t Resist Attacking Cliff Sims

Asawin Suebsaeng