del
Diamond Member
- Banned
- #1
Since the revelation that President Trump (or someone acting on his behalf) compelled senior staff to sign non-disclosure agreements — in essence, preventing them from speaking about their White House service — much of the focus, and rightly so, has been on the improper presidential attempt to stomp on government employees’ First Amendment rights and attempt to prevent employees from speaking to congressional oversight committees (i.e., a violation of the separation of powers). Former White House ethics counsel Norman Eisen explains, “The courts have long recognized that apart from classified information, government employees have a First Amendment right to speak.” He explains, “No president has attempted before to secure the kind of sweeping hush agreements that are alleged here because they are contrary to that principle.”
There are other issues at play, including one several Right Turn readers have asked: Did these employees, by giving something of value to Trump, in essence illegally “pay” for their government jobs? Eisen thinks that there are plenty of problems aside from the First Amendment one. “The NDAs as described in the press also appear to run afoul of many other laws ranging from those protecting whistleblowers to ones forbidding officials from demanding anything of value in exchange for government jobs,” he says.
If candidates for administration jobs wrote out a $1,000 check to Trump to get hired, few would doubt that is anything but a bribe. Likewise, if Trump demanded $1,000 to hire someone, we’d all agree that amounted to soliciting a bribe. So, is the exchange of an NDA — something plainly of value to Trump — somehow different?
Opinion | Trump senior staff who signed non-disclosure agreements may have broken the law
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interesting argument, but the main issue is the idea that these people work for trump.
they work for us, and i can't believe that every republican is so consumed with hatred of clinton and obama that they're willing to have this poltroon be their legacy.
the author is a conservative, btw.
There are other issues at play, including one several Right Turn readers have asked: Did these employees, by giving something of value to Trump, in essence illegally “pay” for their government jobs? Eisen thinks that there are plenty of problems aside from the First Amendment one. “The NDAs as described in the press also appear to run afoul of many other laws ranging from those protecting whistleblowers to ones forbidding officials from demanding anything of value in exchange for government jobs,” he says.
If candidates for administration jobs wrote out a $1,000 check to Trump to get hired, few would doubt that is anything but a bribe. Likewise, if Trump demanded $1,000 to hire someone, we’d all agree that amounted to soliciting a bribe. So, is the exchange of an NDA — something plainly of value to Trump — somehow different?
Opinion | Trump senior staff who signed non-disclosure agreements may have broken the law
__________________________________________________
interesting argument, but the main issue is the idea that these people work for trump.
they work for us, and i can't believe that every republican is so consumed with hatred of clinton and obama that they're willing to have this poltroon be their legacy.
the author is a conservative, btw.
Lol!
