WASHINGTON: A former White House aide is suing President Donald Trump and arguing the government is trying to illegally penalize him after he wrote a book that portrayed an unflattering picture of life in the West Wing.
Cliff Sims filed a lawsuit Monday in federal court in Washington.
Trump’s campaign accused Sims last month of violating a nondisclosure agreement by publishing his book, “Team of Vipers.”
Trump has dismissed Sims as a “low level staffer.” He said the book was “based on made up stories and fiction.”
Sims’ lawsuit charges the government is using a private surrogate to “serve as an illegitimate cutout” and impose liability through the nondisclosure agreement. Sims argues he learned the information only through his time as a federal employee.
The White House didn’t immediately comment.
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Former White House aide who wrote exposé sues Trump
Former White House aide who wrote exposé sues Trump
- Cliff Sims says the government is trying to punish him for writing his book “Team of Vipers”
- Trump has dismissed Sims as a “low level staffer” whose book was “based on made up stories and fiction”
Kremlin says Ukraine talks to take place ‘next week’
- Two previous rounds of US-brokered talks have failed to lead to a breakthrough
- Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart on the key issue of territory
MOSCOW: Russia said on Friday that a new round of talks with US and Ukrainian officials seeking to broker an end to the four-year war would take place next week.
Two previous rounds of US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi have failed to lead to a breakthrough, with Moscow and Kyiv remaining far apart on the key issue of territory.
“There is an agreement that it will indeed take place next week. We will inform you about the venue and dates,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked about whether a new meeting had been planned.
US President Donald Trump is pushing to end the conflict, unleashed when Russia launched its full-scale military offensive in February 2022.
Moscow has stuck to its demands for sweeping territorial and political concessions from Ukraine — rejected by Kyiv as tantamount to capitulation.
Russia is pushing for Ukraine to pull out of the eastern Donetsk region — around one-fifth of which Kyiv’s forces still control.
Ukraine has rejected a unilateral pull-back and wants robust Western security guarantees to deter Russia from re-launching its offensive following any ceasefire.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier this week that he had accepted a US proposal to hold a round of talks in Miami next week.
Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and tens of thousands of civilians have been killed in the four-year conflict, Europe’s deadliest since World War II.
Russia occupies around one-fifth of Ukrainian land — including the Crimean peninsula it seized in 2014 and areas that Moscow-backed separatists had taken prior to 2022.
Two previous rounds of US-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi have failed to lead to a breakthrough, with Moscow and Kyiv remaining far apart on the key issue of territory.
“There is an agreement that it will indeed take place next week. We will inform you about the venue and dates,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked about whether a new meeting had been planned.
US President Donald Trump is pushing to end the conflict, unleashed when Russia launched its full-scale military offensive in February 2022.
Moscow has stuck to its demands for sweeping territorial and political concessions from Ukraine — rejected by Kyiv as tantamount to capitulation.
Russia is pushing for Ukraine to pull out of the eastern Donetsk region — around one-fifth of which Kyiv’s forces still control.
Ukraine has rejected a unilateral pull-back and wants robust Western security guarantees to deter Russia from re-launching its offensive following any ceasefire.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier this week that he had accepted a US proposal to hold a round of talks in Miami next week.
Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and tens of thousands of civilians have been killed in the four-year conflict, Europe’s deadliest since World War II.
Russia occupies around one-fifth of Ukrainian land — including the Crimean peninsula it seized in 2014 and areas that Moscow-backed separatists had taken prior to 2022.
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