Tell-all book on Trump to be released early despite White House legal effortLawyers for Donald Trump moved on Thursday to try to shut down an explosive new book which has exposed chaos behind the scenes at the White House. In response, the book’s US publisher brought publication forward to Friday.Michael Wolff’s book was due to be released on Tuesday. But after extracts were made public by
The Guardian, the White House was thrown into a frenzy.
The Guardian published details from the book on Wednesday after obtaining a copy from a bookseller in New England.
New York magazine then rushed to publish a lengthy extract and more details began to emerge as major US publications including the
New York Times and the
Wall Street Journal received copies free from embargo.
About 250,000 copies of the book had already been shipped, supposedly to be held until Tuesday. On Thursday afternoon, a spokeswoman for Holt & Co told the Guardian publication in all formats was being brought forward to Friday “due to unprecedented demand.”
A statement from the publisher added: “Henry Holt confirms that we received a cease and desist letter from an attorney for President Trump. We see ‘Fire and Fury’ as an extraordinary contribution to our national discourse, and are proceeding with the publication of the book.
As the White House struggled to contain the fallout from the book, a lawyer for the president sent a letter demanding Wolff and his publisher, Henry Holt & Co, “immediately cease and desist from any further publication, release or dissemination,” or excerpts and summaries of its contents. The legal notice, sent by the Beverly Hills-based attorney Charles Harder, also demanded a copy of the book.
Ben Wizner, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s speech, privacy and technology project, said earlier Trump’s lawsuit had no chance of success.
“Even Donald’s Trump’s lawyers aren’t crazy enough to present this to a court,” he said. “It would be extraordinary and unprecedented for a court to respond to these claims by blocking publication. That is not going to happen.
In a column for the
Hollywood Reporter, titled “My Year Inside Trump’s Insane White House,” Wolff gave more insight into what he discovered as he sat “day after day on a West Wing couch” for a year. Administration officials, he suggested,
do not believe Trump is capable of fulfilling his role as president.In a final anecdote, Wolff wrote: “At Mar-a-Lago, just before the new year, a heavily made-up Trump failed to recognize a succession of old friends.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/04/trump-lawyers-book-steve-bannon-white-house