President Trump’s re-election campaign said Monday it is preparing to sue former White House staffer Cliff Sims for violating his confidentiality agreement, a declaration that comes the day Sims’ tell-all book about his experience in the White House hits shelves.
“The Trump campaign is preparing to file suit against Cliff Sims for violating our NDA,” Michael Glassner, the chief operating officer of the Trump campaign, tweeted Tuesday.
The Trump campaign is preparing to file suit against Cliff Sims for violating our NDA. https://t.co/Xl1N95fPkH
— Michael Glassner (@michaelglassner) January 29, 2019
The notice from the president’s re-election campaign comes after Trump fired off a tweet Tuesday morning claiming Sims’ new tell-all book is a work of fiction.
“A low level staffer that I hardly knew named Cliff Sims wrote yet another boring book based on made up stories and fiction. He pretended to be an insider when in fact he was nothing more than a gofer,” Trump wrote.
“He signed a non-disclosure agreement. He is a mess!” Trump added.
A low level staffer that I hardly knew named Cliff Sims wrote yet another boring book based on made up stories and fiction. He pretended to be an insider when in fact he was nothing more than a gofer. He signed a non-disclosure agreement. He is a mess!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 29, 2019
Sims details the backstabbing and chaos of the West Wing during his year and a half working in the White House in Team of Vipers.
In the book, Sims says he often greeted Trump in the morning at an elevator that takes the president down from the White House residence. He also tells of secret meetings he had with Trump, one of which was used to compile an enemies list of White House staffers who were disloyal to the president. The former White House aide said he took detailed notes in many of the meetings he attended.
Sims reportedly received a seven-figure advance from the publisher, Thomas Dunne Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press.
Moments after the tweet, Sims responded to the president’s remarks while appearing on CNN.
“There it is,” Sims said. “I knew that that was a possibility when I wrote this book. … I know who Jesus says I am. Don’t matter to me what Donald Trump or anyone else says that I am.”
In the two years since he assumed the presidency, a number of books have been written about Trump’s White House, at times leading to legal threats from the president’s lawyers.
Trump himself has also taken to Twitter to suggest future legal action over a variety of issues, though he hasn’t followed through on his threats.
