Washington Post Letters

8/10/2019 Washington Post Letters

1/7

Rogerus,

Russeut,

Euelrnr,

ORsecx,

UnreRetmrR

& $auaen

LLP

1801

K STREET,

N.W.,

Sutre

411

WRsntucroN,

D.C.

20006

PHoNE

(202)775-4500

FAx

(202)

775-4il4

www.

robbins

russell.com

Richard A- Sauber

January

16,2074

Marty Baron

Executive

Editor

Kevin

Merida

Managing

Editor fbr News

and Features

The

Washington

Post

1150 l5th

Skeet,

NW

Washington,

DC

20071

Re: Inclusion of

Jonathan

Dach's Name

in a

Proposed Ner,r's Article

Dear Mr.

Baron

and

Mr. Merida:

I

am

counsel

to

Jonathan

Daeh.

In

r&.ent

weeks

I

have

been

speaking

u,ith two

Posl

reporterso

David

Nakarnura

and

Carol

Leonnig,

about

an

artiele

they

have

been

working

aon

concerning

the

aftermath

of

the disclosure

in

the

press

that

certain

U.S.

govemment

employees

acted

inappropriately

while

preparing

in

Colombia

for the

President's visit

to

Colombiain20l2.

Mr.

Nakamura

and

Ms.

Leonnig

have informed

me that

they are considering

using

Mr.

Dach's

narne, and

the

name

of

his father,

Leslie

Dach,

in the

article.

In this

letter

I

would

like

to

lay out the

reasons why

I

think

use

of these

namss

would

be

unwarranted

and

unfair.

More

generally,

the

reasons

outlined

below also

bring

into

question

why

any

article

is fair

given

the

unsubstantiated nature

of

the

allegations.

I am

also

asking

for a

meeting

to

further

discuss

these

issues

before

the

Posr

proceeds.

Let me make

clear at the

outset that

Mr.

Nakamura and Ms.

Leonnig

have

been

honest,

courteous,

and

completely fair

with

me.

I

am

not

writing

to

complain

about

their.actions;

instead

I

am

writing to

appeel

to

you

as editors,

lawyers,

and

reporters to

exercise

yolu

journalistic

judgment

and

refiain

from including

Jonathan

Dach's

name

if this article

is

published and to

refrain

from including

Leslie Dach

inthe story at all.

I

also believe that

regardless

of

whether

nztrnes

are

used

or not,

the Posf

has

an

obligation

to

include

in

the

story

that

the

paper has

no

independent

proof

of the validity

of any of

these

accusations, has seen

no documentary

evidence


2/7

Robbins, Russell, Englert,

Orseck,

Untereiner

& Sauber

LLP

To M.

Baron and

K.

Merida

January

16,2414

Page2

or interviewed

the

underlying

witnesses, and

indeed that at least

one

of

the allegations

made

by

some

of the

sources

has

been

shown

to be

false'

It is my

understanding

that

the

proposed article

being considered

focuses

primarily on

why the

Interim

Inspector

General

at

the

Department

of

Homeland

Security

directed

his

investigators

to

exclude

oertain

allegations

and

evidence

from their

report

that

Jonathan

Dach,

working

as a White

House

volunteer,

had

a

prostitute in his

Colombian

hotel

room during

the

time

period

in

question. I

aiso

understand

that

the

proposed

article

may

include

questions about

the

way

in

which the

White

llouse

responded

to

these

allegations.

Finally,

I understand

that

the

possible inclusion

of

Leslie

Dach's

name is

because,

as

Ms.

Leonnig

told

me,

it is

interesting

that the

events described above

occurred

and

that

Jonathan

Dach's

father

Leslie

is a connected

and influential

supporter

of

President

Obama.

Use of ,lonathan

Dach's

nome

To

print

in a

national

news

outlet

such

as

the Post

that

Jonathan

Dach

is

accused

of

taking a

prostitute

to

his room

while

working

for

the

White

House

will

be

devastating

to this

young

man

just

as he

ernbarks

on

his

career

after

law

school.

It

will

hang over

his

head through

the

internet

for

the

next 50

years.

It will

affect

his

job

prospects

and

his

reputation

forever.

Moreover,

he

has vehemently

denied

the allegation

at every

turn

and

would

do

so under

oath

directly to the

Past if

rt

would

have

a

material

impact

on

your

decision.

There

is, in

my view,

no

compelling

reason

for

the

Post

ta

take

this

gep.

We also

believe the

Post

should have

an

affirmative

obligation

to

investigate

and

affirm

the allegations

before

it

chooses

to

do such

harm'

Central

aspects

of this story,

including

the

identity

of Jonathan

Dach

as

the

White

House

volunteer

in

question,

have been

circulating

in

the media

since

2012.

However,

every media

outlet

that

has

faced

the

question

raised

in

this

letter

has

decided

not

to

include

his

name in

the

reporting.

If it

proceetis,

the

PosI

will

be

the

first

to

do

so.

No

other reporter,

editor, or

news

executive

faced with this

issue

has

ever

taken this

step.

I understand

from Mr.

Nakamura

and Ms.

Leonnig that they

believe

it is

appropriate

to

proceed

and

that this

situation

is different

in

pai't

because of

three

important

allegations

that

the

Posf

has been

told by

curent

or

former

IG

staff:

1

There

is

an

eye*witness

from the

Secret

Service who

claims

to

have

seen

Mr.

Dach

at

the

hotel ftont

desk

trying to

sign in

a

person

who

looked

like

an

escort

into

his room;

2,

There is

some

type of

evidence

indicating

that

Mr. Dach

bought

items

from his

room

mini-bar on the

vsry

same night,

and these

items

are

consistent

with

a couple

partying

in the room;

and

3.

There

is

some documentary

evidence

indicating

Mr.

Dach

in

fact

signed

the escort

into his room

and

tried to use his

Ililton

Rewards number

in

lisu

ofbeing

charged

the

hotel's

standard

late

night

guest

fee.


3/7

Robbins,

Russell,

Englert, Orseck,

Untereiner

& Sauber

LLP

To

M.

Baron

and K.

Merida

January

16,2414

Page

3

The

first

allegation that

a Secret

Service employee alleged to the

IC

staff

that

he saw

Mr.

Dach

in

the

lobby

of

the hotel sign

in

a

person

to his room who

looked

like an escort

is

particularly

flimsy

unless

corroborating evidence

exists. It seems as if

the

Seoret

Service

source

isn't saying

that

he has any

proof

that

the

person

he saw was an

escort

-

only that the

person

looked

like one.

The

allegations

concerning

the

existence

of

documsntary

evidence

are even

more

troubling. It

is unclear to

me

whether the

Posf

has such

evidence

in its

possession

or

has at least

seen the

evidence. Nonetheless,

it

took

me

little

eff'ort to

demonstrate

to

Mr.

Nq&amura

and

Ms.

Leonnig

that the

second

allegation

was

patently

false.

I

provided

them with

a copy of

the

incidentals

bill

from

Mr.

Dach's

stay

in

Colombia.

(The

room

charges are

billed directly to

the

U.S. Government).

There

were

no

late

night

guest

fees

indicated,

nor

was there

any

indication

that the

Awards

number

had

been

used

to

have

a

fee

waived.

But

most

importantly,

the

bill

(and

the receipt

which

was also

provided)

indicated

that

for

the entire

stay

Mr.

Dach consumed

a

single

bottle

of

mineral

water and

nothing

else;

hardly

the

indication of

a

wild

night

with

a

prostitute

that

your

reporters'

sources indicated

was

a

new

piece

of evidence,

In

light

of

the

demonstrable

falsity

of

the

mini-bar

allegation,

it

would

seem

both

fair

and

imperative for

the

Post to subject the other

documentary

elaim to

more

stringent

review.

Indeed, if such documentary eyidence

truly

exists,

why

not

show

it to

me so that I can

have a

chance

to

provide

evidence that

might

undermine

or

refute

it? If

there

is

a

signature involved,

why not

give me

a

chance

to

demonstrate

thafrit is

forged

or

taken

from

a

different

document?

And

if

it turns

out

that the

Posr

does

not have or has not

seen this

documentary

evidence,.

I

believe that

the equities

now tip

in

favor of extreme

skepticism,

especially

in light

of

the

stakes.

Use of Leslie Dach's Name

Leslie

Dach is a

mature man

who

has

lived for

decades

in

Washington,

D.C.

where

he

has

been involved

in

business and

politics.

To have survived here for

that

long

he

has

certainly

developed a

thick

skin.

But

in

some

ways

the use of

his name

would

be

even

more

inappropriate

and

unfair than

the

use of his sonos name.

As

I

understand

the

focus

of

the

proposed

article,

it

is

that a high-level

government

official

(the

Interim

DHS

IG),

obstructed

justice

by interfering

with

a

law

enforcement

report

(the

IG Report). This interference came in

the

form of

instructing the

IG

Agents

to

leave

out

certain salienl facts

and

the

name

of Jonathan Dach.

This

set of

facts would then be

contrasted

with

the

interesting factthat

Jonathan Dach's father is

a connected

and

influential

Democratic

supporter of the President. As I

said,

this is nothing

more

than

an

obvious

invitation

to

infer

that

there

was

political

interference

in the

law

enforcement

proeess,

and

yet

the

Post

has said

to

me it

has

absolutely no

evidence

that

Leslie

Dach in any way attempted to interfere wittr the IG report


4/7

Robbins, Russell,

Englert,

Orseck,

Untereiner

&

Sauber

LLP

To M.

Baron

and

K.

Merida

January

16,2014

Page

4

or

was

known to

the

IG,

This

type

of

highly

inflammatory

innuendo

and

guilt

by

association is

patently

unTair.

I would

very

much like

the

opportunity

to

meet

with

you

if

you

conclude that

these

names

should be

incllded

in the article.

I

am ready

to

provide

any

information

we

can obtain

and

to

make

Jonathan

Dach available

for

interview about the

events

of

that

night

in

Colombia

if

you

can

tell me

his

denials

would

be

material

to

yolr

decision.

Very

truly

yours,

d*

Richard

A.

Sauber

cc:

Stephen Hills,

President and General

Manager

KevinMeridaffi

Anne

Komblut

James

Mclaughlin

John

B, Kennedy

Katherine

Weymouth

David

Nakurruru

Carol

Leonnig i


5/7

RoBerNs,

Russetq

EnouRr,

ORsecx,

UrurrREtneR

& Snueen

LLP

1801

K STREET,

N.W., SUITE

411

WASHINGToN,

D.C.

20006

PHoNE

(202)775-4500

Fnx

(202)

775-4510

www. robbins

russell.

com

Richard

A.

Sauber

March

6,2474

VIA

EMAIL AND

HAND

DELIVERY

Martin

Baron

Executive Editor

Kevin

Merida

Managing

Editor

forNews

and Features

The

Washington

Post

1l 50

1sth Street, NW

Washington,DC

20471

i'

Re:

fnclusion

of

Jonathan

Dach'q

Narne in

a

Proposed

News

Article

Dear Mr.

garoii

ana

Mr.

Merida:

':

'

,:

I

wanted

to thank.you,

and

your

team,

for taking

tfie

time to

meet with

us

last Tuesday.

We

very

much

appreciate

tfie

seriousness

with

which

you

have treated

o1r

concems.

i

There

were a

few

itgms

discussed

at thelnAeting

that

I

would like

to

address

immediately

because I

think they

directly

impact

the

question

of

*ifether

it

would

be fair

to use

Jona&an

Dach's name.

I

also

wanted

to share

some

information

that

you

asked

us

for

that we did

not

have

with

us at

the

time

of

the

meeting

that

we

believe

fu*her

undermines

the

credibility

of

the

investigatory

record

you

are

relying

on.

If

I

understand

correctly,

the

Post

may

use

Mr.

Dach's name, and

perhaps

eYen

his

picture,

in

part

because

it

feels

that the

evidence

supporting

the allegation

that

he brought

a

prostitute

back

to

his room

is

suffrciently

strong

and

your sources sufficiently kustworthy

to

justifr

identifying

him by

name in

connection

with

this allegation.

in

support

of

that

position

the

Post

cited

several

items

to

me, either in our meeting or

previously:

(l)

there

is

a report of

some

sonversations

with

hotel

staff

or

a

notation

in

some

record

indicating

he

tied

to

use

his Hilton

Honors

status

to

have the iate night

guest

fee

waived;

and

(2)

he

was seen

that

evening

in

some

location

with

(or

near)

prostitutes

(we

are still

unclear

whether

you

are

saying

your

witness

saw

Mr.

Dach

with

prostitutes

or

in

a

neighborhood where

prostitutes

are seen)

;

and

(3)

there

was mini-bar

activity

that night

consistent

with

having

a

room

guest;

and

(a)

there were

eye-witnesses

who

saw

him at

the

hotel

with

a

wom&n who

looked

like

a

prostitute.

I

believe

that

these

points

on which the

Posl

seeks

to rely

are

unsupported,

especially

in

light of

some

supporting documentation

provided

herein

and

on

items

previously

supplied

to

your


6/7

Robbins,

Russell, Englert,

Orseckn

Untereiner

& Sauber

LLP

To

M.

Baron

and

K.

Merida

March

6,2014

Page2

reporters.

In addition,

I

point

your

reporters

to

several

other

witnesses,

see

below,

that

are

readily

available shculd your reporters

like

to

seek

them

out.

To

start,

I

am attaching

a copy

of

an email

sent

by the

Hilton

Cartagena to

Mr.

Dach

on March

5

intlicating

that

there

is

no

notation

whatsoevet

in his hotel

guest

file

indicating

anylhing,let

alone an

effort

to

have the

late

night

guest

fee

waived. There

is si

in

his

Hilton

Honors

file to

support

this

allegation

either.

(His

HH

number

and

your

reporters

may check

for

thernselves).

As

I wrote

earlier,

it

is unclear

to

me whether

your

reporters

have

actually

seen

a document

supporting

this

allegation

or

whether

they

are

basing

their

report

on

first,

or

second,

or third-hand

testimony,

but in

any

event the

most

relevant documentation

is

entirely

devoid

of

any

supporting

evidence.

Similarly,

the

ailegation

that

Mr.

Dach

was

seen

in

a neighborhood

with

prostitutes

that

evening,

or

was

seen

checking

a

prostitute

into

his

room, runs

up

against

significant

evidence

to

the

contrary.

On the

evening

that

your sources make

these

allegations

about

Mr.

Dach,

here

is what

happened,

all

of

which can

be

verified

by

multiple

eye-witnesses,

some

of

whom

I believe

your

reporters

have spoken

with,

and

travel

and

cornmunications

records:

l.

Mr.

Dach's

day

began

just

after

midnight on

April 3

in New

Haven when

he

began

his trip

to

JFK for his

three

flights

(through

Miami

and

Bogota)

on his

way

to

Cartagena,

2.

Nineteen

hours

later,

at approximately

7

p.m.,

he checked

into his

room

at the

Hilton

Cartagena.

3.

About

ten minutes later

he

went

iffia

U.S.

embassy

supplied-vehicle,

accompanied

by

several

other

White

Housti

advance

team members

and

two

embassy

control

officers,

to

dinner

at Casa

del

Soccorro

in

the Getsemani

neighborhood

of

the

old

city.

The

restaurant

was

recorlmended

to the

group

by the

embassy

control

offrcers.

The

embassy

control

officers

had dinner

with

the

group

while

the

cars

stood

by

in

a

parking

lot

across the

street.

4. At

approximately

10:40

p.m.

Mr.

Dach

and

the

group

including

the

embassy

control

officers

got

in

the

embassy

cars and

returned

to

the hotel.

5.

At

10:48

p.m.

Mr.

Dach

sent

a

text

message

to

a

friend.

[n

response

to the

friend's

question,

'iHow

is

Colombia?

Mr. Dach

responded

it

is the best

I

am

exhausted.

At

that

point

he

had

beenup

and

traveling for

nearly

23 hours.

We

would

be

happy

to

provide

you

with

any documentation

we

have

to

support

this

timeline,

and we

also

zuggest

that

there

are

multiple

sources

who

can

confirm

these

events.

Against

the

backdrop

of

this timeline,

it would

seem

prudent

for

your.rlngrters

to test

the

credibility

of

the

eyewitnesses

by

asking

for

the

times

of

the

supposed

sightings

of Mr.

Dach

with

prostitutes;

by

asking

whether

embassy

personnel

were

present;

by

asking

whether

other

White

House

advance

staff

were

present.


7/7

Robbine,

Russell,

Englefi, Orseck,

Untereiner

&

Sauber

LLP

To

M.

Baron

and

K.

Merida

March

6,2014

Page

3

As

for

the mini-bar

issue,

you

twice

during

our

meeting dismissed

that

as

being

trivial or

irrelevant. My

point

in

raising

it,

however, was that

it

was

your

reporters

who

cited

it

1o

me

as

evidence

to

support the

allegation

that there

was

a

room

guest.

A review

of the

actual

mini-bm

record did

in fait

reveal

an

$8

purchase

on the evening

in

question- hardly

evidence

to

support

a

prostitute's

visit.

I raised

it

only

to

suggest

that

reliability

of

the

Post's

sources

on

that

point was

at the

very

least

questionable.

I

also

wanted

to clarify

a

point

that

arose

in our meeting,

A Post

representative

at

one

point

stated

that

the

hotel

log

showed that

Mr.

Dach

signed

a

person

into his

room.

I

am

sure

this

was

just

carelessness

in

language

since

I am

sure

we

agree

neither

his signature

nor

name

was

on

the

log.

You

additionally

justified

the

newsworthy

aspect

of

the

story,

and

the

naming

of Mr.

Dach,

by

pointing

out the significant disparity

between

the ways

Mr.

Dach was treated compared

to

the

way

the

Secret Service

officers

were treated.

I would

suggest

that

there

are

perfectly

good

reasons

to treat

Secret

Service

agents

differently

than

White

House

volunteers.

The

Secret

Service

agents

are

armed

guardians

of

the

President

and

his

family with

open

access

to

some

of

the

most

secure

plaees

in this

country.

They

hold

a

place

of absolute

trust

within the

Government,

and even

the

slightest

question

about

the

propriety

of their

conduct

raises

profound

and important

questions

of

national security

and

Presidential safety,

The

job

responsibilities

of

these

agents, and

the

important

role

they

play,

simply

cannot

compare

to

the

position

and

role

of

a

White

House

advance

staffvolunteer.

With the

questions

I

have

raised about

the

vatidity

of

the

allegations

made

by

your

sourc

s,

I do

not

believe there

is

a basis

for

publishing

in*the

Washingtorc

Post a

story that

will

tamish

and

irreparably

hann

Mr.

Dach.

I

believe that

thh

journalistic

goals

of

the Posf

can

easily be

met

without

giving

the

reader

the

distinct

impression

that there

is

any significant

support

for

t{ese

unfair

accusations

against

Mr.

Dach.

Finally,

you

have asked

if Mr. Dach

would

sit

with

your

reporters and

answer

questions

about

that

evening

in Colombia.

I

am

prepared

to

recommend

that

he agree

to

such

an

interview

because

as we

have said

repeatedly

the allegations

you

are

contemplating

printing

about

him

are

untrue

and

highly

inflammatory.

I would

very

much

like

your

response

to the

points

raised

above and

the

clarificaticn

of

the

questions

I have

asked about

the investigatory

record.

Once

that

is

done

I will discuss

with

your

reporters

the

ground

rules

and the

timing

for

an

interview.

1

am available

to

discuss

these matters by

phoni

at

your

convenience.

Richard

Sauber

Washington Post Letters

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Transcript of Washington Post Letters