NDAs and Employee Silencing: Systematic Use of Non-Disclosure Agreements
Trump's NDA culture predated the presidency. Former Trump Organization employees described comprehensive NDAs covering all aspects of their employment. The campaign NDAs were drafted by Trump's attorneys and covered staffers, volunteers, and contractors. Several current and former employees who spoke to journalists anonymously or were approached by journalists described fear of legal action as the primary reason they declined to speak on the record. Michael Cohen's 'catch and kill' operation with AMI (American Media Inc.) extended the silencing mechanism to women who alleged sexual misconduct. Omarosa Manigault Newman, a former White House employee, claimed she was pressured to sign an NDA after her departure that would have prohibited any public criticism of Trump.
Record summary
Grade
Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power
Executive actions that exceed constitutional authority, circumvent statutory constraints, or weaponize government institutions for political ends. Scale and definitions
- Status
- Concluded
- Incident date
- Record updated
- Location
- New York, NY / Washington, D.C.
- Category
- Corruption & Self-Dealing
- Legal posture
- Reported
- War-crime classification
- Enabling conduct
- Verification
- Cross-referenced
- ICC relevance
- No
- Sources
- 3 cited
- Stable ID
trump-pre-presidency-nda-employee-silencing- Victims
- Employees and associates who were silenced about observed misconduct; women whose accounts of sexual harassment or assault were suppressed through legal instruments; the American public and press who were denied information material to evaluating a presidential candidate and president
- Alleged responsible parties
- Donald Trump, Required employees, campaign staff, and personal associates to sign NDAs as a matter of course; sought to extend the practice to White House government employees; coordinated with Michael Cohen on catch-and-kill payments accompanied by NDAs— Trump Organization / Trump Campaign / White House
- Michael Cohen, Executed NDAs as part of hush payment arrangements including the Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal agreements; coordinated with AMI on catch-and-kill operations; pleaded guilty to related federal crimes— Trump Organization
Key points
- Trump's presidential campaign required all staff — from senior advisers to volunteers — to sign NDAs drafted by his attorneys; the agreements were unusually broad, covering not just confidential business information but any observations about Trump personally, his family, or his business operations; campaign staff were told the NDAs were enforceable
- In August 2019, the New York Times reported that Trump had sought to require White House staff — government employees — to sign NDAs; this would have been unprecedented and legal experts questioned whether such agreements would be enforceable for government employees performing public duties; the practice of requiring NDAs of government employees had no precedent in prior administrations
- The Stormy Daniels hush payment arrangement (documented separately) included an NDA prohibiting her from discussing her alleged sexual encounter with Trump; the NDA was drafted by Cohen under a pseudonym entity (Essential Consultants LLC); Trump initially denied knowledge of the arrangement before acknowledging it after Cohen disclosed the payments
- Omarosa Manigault Newman, a former senior White House communications aide, claimed she was offered a $15,000-per-month consulting contract and asked to sign an NDA upon her White House departure that would have prohibited public criticism of Trump; she refused the NDA and subsequently published a memoir about her White House experience; Trump called her a 'dog' and a 'lowlife' in public statements
- The systematic use of NDAs in a business context is legal and common; the use of NDAs to suppress accounts of alleged illegal conduct (such as sexual misconduct or fraud), to prevent government employees from exercising First Amendment rights in their public capacity, and to use the threat of expensive litigation to silence critics of limited financial means represents an abuse of the legal mechanism for which criticism and legal challenges developed
- Multiple Trump Organization employees who spoke to journalists did so anonymously and cited fear of NDA enforcement as their reason; the deterrent effect of NDAs — preventing accounts from reaching the public regardless of their truth or public importance — was part of the design
Overview
The purpose of a non-disclosure agreement is to prevent information from becoming public. Trump used them systematically — in his business, in his campaign, and then in an unprecedented attempt to extend the practice to government employees whose work is funded by taxpayers.
When the information NDAs prevent from becoming public is evidence of misconduct, the mechanism shifts from legal protection of confidential business information to suppression of accountability.
The Campaign
When Trump announced his presidential candidacy, everyone who came to work for the campaign signed an NDA. This covered not just business processes or confidential campaign strategy — it covered personal observations of Trump himself. The agreements were broad enough that campaign staff who observed conduct they found troubling were legally bound to stay silent.
Candidates for the highest office in the country were systematically insulating themselves from accountability by contract.
The White House
Trump attempted to extend the practice to the White House. Legal experts said government employees — whose work is public service, funded by taxpayers, conducted in the public interest — could not legally be bound by NDAs that prevented them from discussing that work. The attempt was described as unprecedented.
The attempt says something about how Trump understood the presidency: as a private enterprise where employees could be silenced like the housekeeper at Mar-a-Lago.
The Catch and Kill Context
The NDAs used in the catch-and-kill arrangements with women who alleged sexual misconduct were deployed alongside payments — a more comprehensive silencing mechanism. Sign an NDA and take money, or face a legal battle against Trump's attorneys. The agreements were designed to be practical coercion regardless of enforceability.
The underlying claims — what the women would have said without the NDAs — were the information the system was designed to prevent from reaching voters before elections.
Update log
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Based on August 2019 reporting on White House NDA attempts.
Sequence of events
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Trump Organization systematic NDA use — employees required to sign
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Trump Organization employees are required to sign comprehensive non-disclosure agreements covering their observations of Trump personally and his business operations. The practice extends to contractors, vendors, and personal staff.
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Campaign staff NDAs — all staff required to sign
When Trump announces his presidential campaign, all campaign staff — from senior advisers to volunteers — are required to sign NDAs. The agreements are broader than standard confidentiality agreements, covering personal observations of Trump.
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Stormy Daniels NDA executed — $130K payment
Michael Cohen executes an NDA with Stormy Daniels (Stephanie Clifford) through Essential Consultants LLC, accompanied by a $130,000 payment, prohibiting her from discussing her alleged sexual encounter with Trump. (Documented separately in the hush money conviction file.)
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Omarosa refuses NDA — publishes memoir
Omarosa Manigault Newman refuses a $15,000/month consulting contract contingent on signing an NDA prohibiting public criticism of Trump. She publishes a memoir about her White House experience. Trump responds with personal attacks.
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NYT: Trump sought White House staff NDAs
The New York Times reports that Trump sought to require White House staff — government employees — to sign NDAs. Legal experts say such agreements would be unprecedented and of questionable enforceability for employees in public service roles.
Sources
- Trump Sought to Force White House Aides to Sign Nondisclosure Agreements — The New York Times
- Trump's use of NDAs to silence critics and employees — The Washington Post
- Trump's NDA culture: silencing employees and associates — The Associated Press