found that the language of
the far-reaching contract was so vague that it was invalid under New York contract law, Politico reports.
“
The vagueness and breadth of the provision is such that a Campaign employee would have no way of what may be disclosed, and, accordingly, Campaign employees are not free to speak about anything concerning the Campaign,” Gardephe wrote in his decision. “The non-disclosure provision is thus much broader than what the Campaign asserts is necessary to protect its legitimate interests, and, therefore,
is not reasonable.”
Gardephe also found fault in the non-disparagement clause of the agreement, Politico reports, writing that the contract showed
the Trump campaign did not operate “in good faith.”
“The evidence before the Court instead demonstrates that the Campaign has repeatedly sought to enforce the non-disclosure and non-disparagement provisions to suppress speech that it finds detrimental to its interests,” Gardephe added.
The outlet notes that the Trump campaign had asked Gardephe to edit the provisions in the contract if he found them unenforceable, but the judge declined to do so.