Lessons From A Porn Star
The Stormy Daniels’ saga is something that could only happen with Trump as President. But I think it is instructive in at least two ways, one very concrete and one highly speculative.
It appears that Donald Trump and Michael Cohen have risen to the bait and are now claiming they have the right to sue Stormy Daniels for $20 million for 20 violations of her supposed NDA. Notice that Cohen/Trump have not actually sued Daniels for the money, only stating that they have the right to sue. In addition, as Rachel Maddow noted last night, the Trump team is also trying to move the lawsuit filed by Daniels, which claims the original non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is invalid for a number of reasons, including the fact that Trump never signed it, from state court to federal court. To show how seriously the Trump team is taking this, the lawyer filing that change of venue request is the same lawyer that Peter Thiel used to bankrupt Gawker.
Yesterday’s shocking accusation that Daniels was physically threatened by someone associated with Trump’s team, presumably Michael Cohen, also raises the stakes in this case. On MTP Daily, Chuck Todd and others were slightly outraged that Daniels’ lawyer could make this kind of charge without outlining any evidence for it and felt that he should be pressed further and harder for clarity. Of course, Daniels’ lawyer will just stonewall and say that all will be known if and when Daniels’ 60 minutes interview gets aired. Their outrage is also a little rich considering Trump has managed to deny accusations from well over 20 women at this point and rarely gets “pressed further” on what everyone knows are his lies.
But the coyness of Daniels’ lawyer also highlights the problem with NDAs, although not in the normal way in this case. Daniels’ lawyer is actually using the NDA as cover for not providing the details on his accusation. So, rather than silencing Daniels, the NDA actually provides cover for her to engage in accusations that can only be unsubstantiated innuendo at this point.
NDAs were originally designed to protect trade secrets and sensitive business negotiations. The expansion of their use beyond these two areas has allowed NDAs to be used as a vehicle to silence people, especially in the workplace. NDAs intimidate whistleblowers, protect sexual abusers, and restrict the employment opportunities of workers. Today, around one-third of US workers are bound by NDAs, most of which also include what is known as a non-disparagement clause which forbids the employee from speaking ill of the corporation not only while they were employed but also after they leave the organization. NDAs were never intended to be used to enforce silence in personal disputes or to restrict the free speech rights of workers. It is time to limit them to their original intent.
On a more speculative level, beyond once again highlighting how NDAs can be abused, Daniels’s legal thrusts and the strong response from Trump points up Trump’s real weakness, namely his inability to cope with not being able to control the media narrative about himself.
The level of chaos and, yes, insanity coming for Trump has reached new heights over the last couple of weeks. Some in the press believe this is because Trump has become more “comfortable” in the job and is more confident in his own approach. Others believe it is because of the Mueller investigation coming ever closer to Trump and his family. I happen to think it is at least in part driven by Stormy Daniels. Her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, whatever his legal skills (which seem considerable), is also an impressive PR machine, intimating one bombshell after another about Trump’s relationship with the porn star on an almost daily basis and creating intense interest in her 60 minutes interview, if and when that actually gets aired.
After each one of these intimated titillations, Trump is reported to become even more angry and erratic and almost always responds with his own media spectacle that overwhelms the coverage of the Daniels saga. Trump can not abide the fact that someone else is driving the media narrative about himself, rather than he being the one driving that story.
To delve into further speculation, Trump is responding pretty forcefully to Daniels’ accusations. He is not just denying them and threatening to sue as he did to the myriad of accusers during the campaign. He is actually aggressively pursuing efforts to ensure that Daniels is forced to remain silent, the latest sign being the recruitment of Thiel’s heavy-hitting Gawker lawyer. Yes, the environment has changed enormously since the #MeToo movement became such a force, but it does make one wonder why Trump is so concerned about Daniels.
Many people have noted that there simply seems to be no center, no core, to Donald Trump, a purely transactional being. But he is clearly a narcissistic man-child with certain addictive traits, perhaps even a sex addict. And the two areas where Trump acts most unusually come from two different sources that may have incriminating evidence, including visual evidence, of his sexual proclivities, namely the Russians and now Stormy Daniels. One (Putin) Trump know he can’t control; the other (Daniels) he believes he can. I would posit that it is perhaps these sexual preferences that Trump actually views as his core being, his inner life, and, as such, it must be hidden from the public at all cost.
While the above is mere speculation, I do believe there is certainly some truth to the idea that Trump can not stand anyone else driving the media narrative at his expense. Someone on MSNBC said the other day that the best way to neuter Trump would be for the media to stop covering anything other than what his administration actually does, rather than engage in his endless PR machinations. That seems correct although I fear to think what Trump might actually do in order to see himself as the focus of media coverage again.
