Whoa, this made my blood boil. You did nothing wrong, the boss made the wrong decision to have salary discussion in front of the previous EA. This violates every rule of hire in the US. Salary is a very private discussion once the position has been offered to the applicant. If proper protocols had been followed, none of this backlash against you would've happened.

I always say that raising our consciousness, our awareness is always a painful process. I'm so, so glad you had your consciousness raised and moved on.