The Department of Justice sent a warning letter on Monday to the publisher of a book authored by an anonymous senior Trump administration official, saying the author may be in violation of nondisclosure agreements.
“We request that you immediately provide us with your representations that the author did not sign any nondisclosure agreement and that the author did not have access to any classified information in connection with government service,” reads the letter from Assistant Attorney General Joseph Hunt to Hachette Book Group’s general counsel and the Javelin literary agency.
“If you cannot make those representations, we ask that you immediately provide either the nondisclosure agreements the author signed or the dates of the author’s service and the agencies where the author was employed, so that we may determine the terms of the author’s nondisclosure agreements and ensure that they have been followed,” the letter demands.
The book, “A Warning,” is authored by the same senior government official who wrote an anonymous op-ed last year in the New York Times claiming that “senior officials in [Trump’s] own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.” The book is scheduled for release on November 19.
Hachette denied the DOJ’s request, saying the publisher “respectfully declines to provide you with the information your letter seeks,” adding that it would refer to the author only as a “current or former senior official.”
The literary agency, Javelin, had stronger words for the administration, accusing the DOJ of attempting to “intimidate and expose” the anonymous senior official.