'Fire and Fury' Author and Publisher's Legal Team Responds to Trump Lawyer's Threats
The lawyer representing "Fire and Fury" author Michael Wolff and publisher Henry Holt & Co. has responded to the cease-and-desist letter sent by United States President Donald J. Trump's private attorney.
Davis Wright Tremaine's Elizabeth A. McNamara is representing Wolff and Henry Holt & Co. against Trump's attorney — Charles Harder — over the cease and desist order to halt the publication or further citation of "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House," Variety reports.
McNamara has sent back her response to Harder's letter, and according to her, it was an act to "silence legitimate criticism."
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"Though your letter provides a basic summary of New York libel law, it stops short of identifying a single statement in the book that is factually false or defamatory," McNamara said in her response.
McNamara then continued to state that Wolff was given "extraordinary access to the Trump administration and campaign from May 2016 to this past October." During that time, Wolff conducted over 200 interviews with the U.S. president himself, as well as members of Trump's senior staff.
"Fire and Fury" is based on Wolff's series of interviews with those involved in the Trump administration, and McNamara is confident that it is "an accurate report on events of vital public importance."
McNamara also denied that Wolff committed false light invasion of privacy, and tortuous interference and breach of contract. Harder's letter claims that Wolff convinced former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon to break a non-disclosure agreement connected to the campaign.
However, McNamara made it clear that if ever there were any violations, the responsibility does not fall on Wolff or the publisher of "Fire and Fury."
"The law treats sources like Mr. Bannon as adults, and it is Mr. Bannon's responsibility — not Henry Holt's or Mr. Wolff's — to honor any contractual obligations," McNamara said.
McNamara stated that her team is "quite confident" that related documents to Wolff's "Fire and Fury" will support their defense if Trump and his legal team decide to pursue litigation against them.
In an interview with TIME, Wolff admitted that receiving a threat from President Trump and his legal team to stop the publishing of "Fire and Fury" was both "ludicrous and scary."
However, Wolff is certain that Trump doesn't have the power to "restrain anything from publication."
