19 March 2018

The Muzzler

The Washington Post broke the rather astounding story yesterday (link here) that Donald Trump forced senior White House officials to sign a confidentiality and non-disclosure agreement as a requirement to working in the West Wing.

The muzzle would not last for only the time of Trump's presidency. It lasts forever.

Once again, Trump demonstrates that his highest priority of employees is not loyalty to the constitution or loyalty to the country. It is loyalty to him.

The only saving grace here -- which Trump may or may not realize -- is that the contracts are patently unenforceable and unconstitutional. A private company may require a nondisclosure agreement, which is perfectly legal, but a government may not because of the First Amendment.

Now Trump may think that he can somehow overrule the Constitution if he wants, and for all time, but that's nothing but a gigantic bucket of horseshit. No President has such power.

If any former Trump employee does decide to speak, however, nothing will stop Trump from trying to enforce the contract. So any former employee who signs a book deal, which Trump would then try to crush, would have to pay an attorney to fight off the lawsuit, and that could run into the tens of thousands of dollars.

In light of this news, one is reminded of one of Trump's many claims -- that he's running the most transparent administration in history. How he can actually say that with a straight face, when he's actually running the least transparent administration in modern history, shows that he is the consummate maestro of lying.

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