Former President Donald J. Trump’s 2016 campaign will pay $450,000 as part of a years-long legal battle over nondisclosure agreements it required employees to sign, Bloomberg reported.
The settlement with Jessica Denson—whom the campaign tried to silence after the former staffer sued for sex discrimination and harassment— effectively nixes the nondisclosure agreements that hundreds of workers signed. The campaign estimated that at least 422 people signed identical contracts, according to Denson’s attorneys.
According to documents filed on Friday in a New York federal court, the ex-staffer will receive $25,000, and the remaining $425,000 will cover legal fees and other costs.
“Thanks to the court, this is another victory for truth and transparency. The Trump Campaign can hide nothing now, not even the real price they’ve agreed to pay for our tireless and victorious battle against their forced silence,” Denson said in a statement, per the report.
US District Judge Paul Gardephe, who has yet to approve the settlement, previously ruled that the 2016 campaign’s contract language was too vague and “unduly burdensome” to be valid. Denson’s lawyers have also asked Gardephe to certify the suit as a limited class action for other former employees who would be covered by the deal.
Last month, the campaign agreed to release all former staffers, volunteers and contractors from nondisclosure and non-disparagement agreements they signed in order to work for Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump has notoriously used NDAs throughout both his business and political career to silence former employees or people in his inner circle from speaking out against him, any member of the Trump family, or any Trump-related organization.
Most recently, the former president has found himself in a dilemma involving Stormy Daniels, who has previously claimed to have had an “intimate relationship” with Trump and alleged a nondisclosure agreement she signed was invalid. According to sources, Trump is currently faced with either claiming a $130,000 check had nothing to do with the 2016 election or explaining to Melania why he sent the alleged payoff to the adult actress in the first place.