Michael Wolff Discusses Fire and Fury at 6th and I ... back > |
Jan. 18, 2018 - Michael Wolff discussed his best-selling book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House with Jonathan Capehart in a sold-out event organized by Politics and Prose bookstore. The book has been the talk of DC since it was released in early January. In the discussion Wolff provided insights into how he gained such extraordinary access "It's all true." Wolff stated of the book. "It is literally all true. This book is Donald Trump in full." |
"Everybody [at the White House]
was under the
impression that they were supposed to meet with me," Wolff said to
laughter from the audience. "I think on one level nobody knew
quite how this came about," Wolff said. Wolff said he spent a lot
of time sitting in the West Wing lobby waiting and "trying not to be
noticed." He was
"careful not to come in as a member of the press." He said, "I
became a familiar presence around the White House and I think
also very much a non-threatening presence." [C-SPAN] |
In a bit of a tease Wolff mentioned that there is a "shocking" revelation which he didn't explicitly include in the book because he could not "nail it." Capehart could not get Wolff divulge, but Wolff did say "If you read between the lines it is there [in the book]" specifically "toward the end." |
Publisher Henry
Holt
and
Co.
first released several excerpts of the Fire and Fury, prompting Trump's
attorneys to respond with cease and desist letters to Holt, Steve
Bannon and Wolff. In the letter to Holt they wrote: "Your publication of the
false/baseless statements about Mr. Trump gives rise to, among
other claims, defamation by libel, defamation by libel per se, false
light invasion of privacy,
tortious interference with contractual relations, and inducement of
breach of contract."
They demanded: "...you immediately cease and
desist from any further
publication, release or dissemination of the Book, the Article, or any
excerpts or summaries of
either of them, to any person or entity, and that you issue a full and
complete retraction and
apology to my client as to all statements made about him in the Book
and Article that lack
competent evidentiary support."
Holt responded by moving up the publication date, originally scheduled
for Jan. 9 to Jan. 5. In a Jan. 8 response to Trump's attorney,
Holt's attorney wrote, "My clients do not intend to cease publication,
no such retraction will occur, and no apology is warranted."
Further:"Though your letter provides a
basic summary of New York libel law, telllingly, it stops short of
identifying a single statement in the book that is factually false or
defamatory. Instead, the letter appears to be designed to silence
legitimate criticism. This is the antithesis of an actionable
libel claim."
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