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- White House interns were shown a cartoon image of a jailhouse as they were warned not to leak.
- Trump's internship program director also warned interns against being "liberals" in addition to "leakers."
- Interns were compelled to sign non-disclosure agreements as a condition of working for Trump.
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The internship program director for the Trump White House used a cartoon image of a jailhouse in a slideshow warning interns against "criminal prosecution" if they became "leakers" or even "liberals," according to the Daily Beast.
White House interns – who were also forced to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) as a condition of their employment at in the Trump administration – were shown slides that defined confidential information as being "all nonpublic information I learn of or gain access to in the course of my official duties in the service of the United States Government as a White House intern," including information about "the First Family."
The consequences of leaking, according to internship program director Zoe Jackman, would be a "tarnished reputation" and various other potential legal actions. The Daily Beast reported in 2019 that interns were also threatened with "financial ruin" should they leak information to the press.
The practice of making interns sign NDAs is unusual, according to veterans of previous administrations.
Making interns sign NDAs was part of a broader strategy by former President Donald Trump to protect potentially sensitive information about himself, though that strategy may be starting to unravel.
Last week, a New York arbitrator ruled that an NDA signed by Omarosa Manigault Newman - the director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison during the Trump's administration and the author of a tell-all book on the administration called "Unhinged" - was far too broad to actually be enforced.
The arbitrator specifically references a portion of the NDA that compelled Manigault Newman to "never say anything remotely critical of Mr. Trump, his family or his or his family members' businesses for the rest of her life" as being unreasonable.
That could spell trouble for the rest of the NDAs that various close Trump associates have had to sign. Manigault Newman told the Daily Beast that she thought the case would have a "massive impact" going forward.
"There were so many people in the room when he was doing things that were so clearly unlawful, unethical, unhinged-whatever 'un-' you want to use-especially people in the White House," she told the Daily Beast. "It's not because they're unloyal or don't care about the office or the country; it's because of how he treated people."