So maybe the concept of the right to free speech for government employees is coming from another direction?
The Trump White House is forcing all kinds of staff people to sign nondisclosure agreements, says a Perspective piece in the Washington Post.
The NDAs are probably not enforceable but they might have a chilling effect, say Irvin McCollough and Tom Devine of the Government Accountability Office, a nonprofit that helps whistleblowers.
One “rider” on the annual appropriations legislation, “allows Congress to block executive branch ‘payment of the salary’ for any federal employee who attempts to prohibit or prevent another federal employee from communicating with Congress,” says the comment.
Interestingly, speaking to the news media or writing a book might be construed as protected under the provisions, say the authors.
This comes after the Trump campaign filed an arbitration claim against Cliff Sims, a former campaign and White House staffer, who wrote a book called, “Team of Vipers,” about the Trump White House. In a Washington Post column, Sims attorney Mark S. Zaid said, “If the president prevails, any winning candidate could forever silence — in advance — those who worked on their campaigns. Our democratic way of life should not tolerate political censorship.”
The Trump White House is forcing all kinds of staff people to sign nondisclosure agreements, says a Perspective piece in the Washington Post.
The NDAs are probably not enforceable but they might have a chilling effect, say Irvin McCollough and Tom Devine of the Government Accountability Office, a nonprofit that helps whistleblowers.
One “rider” on the annual appropriations legislation, “allows Congress to block executive branch ‘payment of the salary’ for any federal employee who attempts to prohibit or prevent another federal employee from communicating with Congress,” says the comment.
Interestingly, speaking to the news media or writing a book might be construed as protected under the provisions, say the authors.
This comes after the Trump campaign filed an arbitration claim against Cliff Sims, a former campaign and White House staffer, who wrote a book called, “Team of Vipers,” about the Trump White House. In a Washington Post column, Sims attorney Mark S. Zaid said, “If the president prevails, any winning candidate could forever silence — in advance — those who worked on their campaigns. Our democratic way of life should not tolerate political censorship.”
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