Prof. Kitrosser Participates in CNN Q&A On White House Non-Disclosure Agreements and the First Amendment

Professor Kitrosser participated in a written Q&A with CNN’s Chris Cillizza about the First Amendment implications of reported non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) between President Trump and members of his staff, including former staffer Omarosa Manigault Newman. Among other things, Kitrosser discussed the breadth of the NDA’s alleged text and the importance of applying First Amendment analysis to it despite Donald Trump’s characterizing it as an agreement between private parties. Under the NDA, Kitrosser explained, “signers must promise never, during or after their service, to say anything disparaging about Trump, Pence, any Trump family member, etc. There’s no way that a government entity or official could require such terms consistent with the First Amendment. It’s a viewpoint-based prior restraint on speech of central public concern. Were an official able to get around these important protections by simply having their campaign enter the agreement (thus framing it as an agreement between private parties), such protections would have little meaning.”