‘Art of the Deal’ ghostwriter hit with cease and desist letter, demand for payment after trashing

[malaise]

Don the Con in New Yorker interview

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/trump-ghostwriter-hit-cease-desist-letter-article-1.2719411
<snip>
Donald Trump ghostwriter Tony Schwartz has been slapped with a cease and desist letter after calling out the wannabe President as a “sociopath,” the journalist said Wednesday.

“It’s nuts and completely indicative of who he is,” Schwartz — who co-authored 1987’s bestselling “The Art of the Deal” — told Rachel Maddow.

The cease and desist comes in response to Schwartz’s damning tell-all interview with The New Yorker earlier this week.

"I put lipstick on a pig," he told the mag. "I feel a deep sense of remorse that I contributed to presenting Trump in a way that brought him wider attention and made him more appealing than he is."

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Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah hahahahahh

[Mendocino]

1. That book should be called

The Art of the Steal or Mein Trumpf.

About time somebody spilled the beans on this pathetic pile of pumpkin pus.

[malaise]

2. Trump can attack anyone but he believes he is immune

from criticism.

[Hortensis]

3. He deserves his remorse for sure, and of course Trump's

trademark lawsuit threat response is no surprise to him. But he spoke out. Thank you, Tony Schwartz, for that. It's too late, but it's not nothing.


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[Iggo]

5. LOL @ Trump Stamp.

[lapislzi]

4. I'm going to throw this out there: a comment from a writer friend

He is also a former speechwriter for execs and legislators at the state house level, so he knows what he's talking about.

On "McIver" (if this is even a real person, which I doubt): If I'd made a mistake on that scale, I would have been fired. It's the writing equivalent of malpractice.

On Tony Schwartz: when someone hires you to ghostwrite for them, there is a level of intimacy that should not be violated. Don't kiss and tell. Or, in other words, if you make a Faustian bargain, expect Faustian consequences if you renege. Schwartz is a stupid and morally bankrupt man on every level.

[Are_grits_groceries]

7. Unless and until they sign an airtight nondisclosure agreement,

they are stupid for trusting someone. And please don't go with that morally bankrupt crap. You hire a shill, you get a shill. I am surprised he wasn't required to sign a ND agreement.

[lapislzi]

8. We don't know that he wasn't

We only know what he said to the New Yorker. I doubt Trump is that stupid. Even if he were, his lawyers sure aren't. They know who pays them.

I assume this will play out in the media and maybe in court. None of this is bad for Trump, mind you.

How is a shill different from a morally bankrupt person? You sign a bargain with the devil, you should know what you're getting into. You could make the case that Schwartz didn't know it was a Faustian bargain when he made it, but he belies that pretty early in the article. He was squeamish about it from the beginning, and he should have followed his squeam. Instead, he took the money.

I call that moral bankruptcy. YMMV.

BTW, all due respect, because I'm in agreement with you 90% of the time on most things.

[arthritisR_US]

11. He said on Bill Mahre last night that his work with tRump was

before tRump started is ND rampage.

I don't think Schwartz had any idea of what kind of person tRump is before he started working for him. By the time he realized it, it was probably too late. He must have had a signed contract to write that book and breaking the contract early in his career would no doubt have been financial ruin for him.

[lapislzi]

12. It is an interesting ethical question

Do you spill the beans for the greater good? Obviously Schwartz thinks so. The fallout for him has been bad--since the book and beyond--and it's going to get worse.

I hope it is not all for naught. To sell your soul, try to buy it back, after you realize that your sold soul's been used to hoodwink the entire planet. Oh, and then tossed in the toilet for good measure. Schwartz is one guy I wouldn't want to be.

[arthritisR_US]

13. You nailed it! He struck me as a man in pain and afraid of what's coming.

It gave me pain and compassion seeing him. Like you, I don't don't envy his position.

[Johonny]

9. Yeah, I think most people if they see Hitler coming to power and can stop it

will try. This dude stayed silent so long as Trump was a private joke. When Trump started to actually threaten his liberty, livelihood, and safety by trying to become president, then he talked. There is no such thing as expected privacy when you run for president. Trump wants everyone to shut up but him. That's not how freedom works.

[lapislzi]

10. Well, he's paying twice for his Faustian bargain

Your point is a good one about the greater good outweighing the ordinary rules of engagement under such circumstances. I only hope it turns out to be worth it in the end. May be too little, too late.

He still cannot buy back his soul.

[MohRokTah]

6. I bet he wrote the book for Trump before Trump started his NDA bullshit. eom