Washington: A lawyer representing President Donald Trump sent a cease-and-desist letter accusing his former chief strategist of violating a non-disclosure agreement by speaking to the author of an upcoming book, US media reported Wednesday.
Excerpts from the book by Michael Wolff that were published on Wednesday sparked a firestorm in Washington, with Trump lashing out at Steve Bannon, describing him as insane and irrelevant.
In a letter to Bannon quoted by US media, attorney Charles Harder wrote: "You have breached the Agreement by, among other things, communicating with author Michael Wolff about Mr. Trump, his family members" and his presidential campaign.
Additionally, the letter accused Bannon of "disclosing Confidential Information to Mr. Wolff, and making disparaging statements and in some cases outright defamatory statements to Mr. Wolff about Mr. Trump, his family members."
In the excerpts of "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House", Bannon is quoted as having described a meeting between Trump's eldest son, son-in-law and campaign chairman and a Kremlin-connected lawyer as "treasonous" and "unpatriotic."
Bannon, who left the White House in August, is also quoted as saying that the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller into Russian interference in the 2016 election will focus on money laundering.
Trump wasted little time in hitting back at Bannon, saying he "has nothing to do with me or my presidency. When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind."
Trump said Bannon -- who engineered the New York real estate mogul's link to the nationalist far right and helped create a pro-Trump media ecosystem -- was "only in it for himself."
