WashPost: Trump's 'Desperate' Cease and Desist Won't Silence Bannon

President Donald Trump's cease and desist letter to former adviser Steve Bannon most likely won't escalate into a full-blown lawsuit, The Washington Post reports.

Trump's attorney, Charles Harder, sent the letter to Bannon on Wednesday night, after an excerpt from the former White House staffer's upcoming book was released. The letter claims that Bannon "breached" a nondisclosure agreement by "disclosing confidential information" to his co-writer "and making disparaging" and "defamatory statements" about Trump and his family. 

However, "without legal action, specifically a lawsuit, such a letter is just a piece of paper. So should Bannon refuse to comply with the letter, Trump would have to sue to enforce it," the Post's Samantha Schmidt wrote Thursday morning, citing legal professor Orly Lobel of the University of San Diego School of Law.

If Trump does bring a lawsuit against Bannon it could force the president to testify under oath, and since he is a public figure Trump would have to prove that the statements made by Bannon were "false, damaging and delivered with actual malice, meaning that Bannon knew his comments were false and made them anyway."

Multiple lawyers pointed out the flaws in Trump's strategy on Twitter:

This reeks of desperation like Donnie got so mad he ordered his attorney to fire off a "certified letter." Unenforceable as to comments not related to campaign and the NDA would not prevent legally required testimony.

— Dwight Williams (@dwight_esq) January 4, 2018

Well this is stupid.

One, it keeps the story alive and gives Bannon more media oxygen.

Two, the NDA doesn't apply to anything that happened once Bannon became a federal employee.

Three, do you really want to risk litigation here and subsequent risk of discovery? Really? https://t.co/b2lgtEUwWz

— Bradley P. Moss, Esq (@BradMossEsq) January 4, 2018

Seems like a desperate attempt by Trump to try to squelch info. And doesn't this backfire? If Bannon can't talk to journalists, the 1 person he can talk to is a guy named Mueller, who can pierce the NDA in a heartbeat. So this move just underscores the continuing need for Mueller https://t.co/zezDzcfp7P

— Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) January 4, 2018

• Report: Author Has Bannon, White House Officials on Tape
• Trump's Lawyer Sends Bannon Cease, Desist Letter