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Trump makes senior White House staff 'sign nondisclosure agreements set to last beyond his presidency'

Draft copy of agreement reportedly would have involved $10m penalty for each violation

Samuel Osborne
Monday 19 March 2018 15:32 GMT
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The agreements were signed following several leaks in the early months of Donald Trump's administration
The agreements were signed following several leaks in the early months of Donald Trump's administration

Donald Trump reportedly ordered his senior staff to sign nondisclosure agreements which will last beyond his time as president.

The agreements said officials could face fines if they disclosed confidential White House information to the press or others and were signed following several leaks in the early months of his administration, according to the Washington Post.

They were intended to remain in effect after Mr Trump was no longer President, the report said.

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A draft copy of the agreement would have subjected violators to a $10m (£7.1m) penalty for each instance of disclosure, payable to the US Treasury.

Sources familiar with the final document reportedly do not remember a similarly large penalty, suggesting it had been watered down.

Top officials in the Trump campaign signed similar agreements, but legal experts questioned whether such an agreement would be legal for a high-ranking government employee, given constitutional free-speech protections.

Officials ultimately agreed to sign the agreements, in part after concluding they were likely not enforceable, according to the Post.

One official who signed the agreement told the paper: “I remember the president saying, ‘Has everybody signed a confidentiality agreement like they did during the campaign or we had at Trump Tower?’”

They added: “There was lots of leaking, things that just weren’t true, and a lot of things that were true and should have remained confidential.

“The President’s point was that they [White House staff] would think twice about that if they were on the hook for some serious damages.”

The White House has not commented on the agreements.

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