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Michael Bloomberg says he'll release 3 women from NDAs if asked after contentious debate

Posted at 4:13 PM, Feb 21, 2020
and last updated 2020-02-21 16:13:20-05

After a widely-panned debate performance highlighted by former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg getting taken to task by Sen Elizabeth Warren and others about bounding employees of Bloomberg to nondisclosure agreements, Bloomberg said Friday he will release several employees from their NDAs if asked.

In a tweet published on Friday, Bloomberg stated, “Bloomberg LP has identified 3 NDAs signed over the past 30+ years with women to address complaints about comments they said I had made. If any of them want to be released from their NDAs, they should contact the company and they'll be given a release.”

Bloomberg added, “I’ve decided that for as long as I’m running the company, we won’t offer confidentiality agreements to resolve claims of sexual harassment or misconduct going forward.”

Warren hammered Bloomberg for his refusal to release some of his employees from their nondisclosure agreements.

"Are the women bound by being muzzled by you? You could release them from that immediately. Because understand, this is not just a question of the mayor's character," Warren said.

"We have very few nondisclosure agreements. None of them accuse me of doing anything other than maybe they didn't like a joke I told," he responded.

One of the "jokes" Bloomberg could be referring to is allegations that he discussed at a wedding about engaging in sex acts with female employees.

Bloomberg ultimately said that he would not release anyone from nondisclosure agreements during Wednesday’s debate before backtracking on Friday.