Omarosa Manigault Newman has released another secret recording from her never-ending stash tapes — this time of campaign official Lara Trump offering her a $15,000-a-month job on Trump’s re-election campaign after she got fired.
via People:
The tape — which Manigault Newman says she recorded on December 16, 2017, just days after she was fired by White House Chief of Staff John Kelly — reveals Lara, who is married to Trump’s son Eric, saying, “It sounds a little like, obviously, that there are some things you’ve got in the back pocket to pull out.
“Clearly, if you come on board the campaign, like, we can’t have, we got to,” she continues, before Manigault Newman cuts in, “Oh, God no.”
Lara continues, “Everything, everybody, positive, right?”
Manigault Newman released excerpts from the call during an interview with MSNBC’s Craig Melvin on Thursday, claiming that the recording was proof of “an attempt” by Trump’s team “to buy my silence, to censor me, and to pay me off.”
She added that she “absolutely” saw the offer as “hush money.”
Manigault Newman also describes the phone call in her explosive new tell-all,Unhinged, about her time in the Trump White House, claiming that the job was offered on the condition of signing a non-disclosure agreement. Manigault Newman says she didn’t accept the job.
Lara responded in a lengthy statement on Thursday, saying:
From the beginning of my father-in-law’s campaign, Omarosa was welcomed into our family as a trusted friend and confidant. On the Women for Trump tour, including Omarosa, we formed a sisterhood bond that is unlike any I have experienced in my life. We toured together, laughed together, and worked really hard towards a common goal. We never would have imagined that one of our own was secretly recording all of our private conversations.
When Omarosa was fired by the White House Chief of Staff in December of 2017, my entire family was concerned for her because we had no idea about the basis of her dismissal. We still wanted her on our team because we cared so much about her personally. That’s why I reached out to offer her a position with the 2020 Trump Campaign before we knew anything about the gross violations of ethics and integrity during her White House tenure. Another one of Omarosa’s ‘bombshell’ tapes is a fraud. The discussions about a position with the campaign took place in numerous phone calls over the course of several weeks.
Woman to woman, I shared a connection with Omarosa as a friend and a campaign sister, and I am absolutely shocked and saddened by her betrayal and violation on a deeply personal level.
I hope it’s all worth it for you, Omarosa, because some things you just can’t put a price on.
Manigault Newman did not play the full recording of the call on MSNBC, instead sharing four excerpts. NBC News said it listened to the full conversation and that “the clips are in context.”
In another excerpt Manigault Newman released on Thursday, Lara is heard saying that “the only thing that we have to consider, where we’re talking salary as far as the campaign is concerned, is that, as you know, everything is public.
“And that all the money that we raise and that pays salaries is directly from donors, small-dollar donors for the most part. So, I know you, you were making 179 at the White House. And I think we can work something out where we keep you right along those lines,” Lara continues, later adding, “So that’s $180,000. Does that sound like a fair deal for you?”
The former Apprentice star, who is in the midst of a media blitz promoting her new book, has claimed that she also secretly recorded private phone calls with Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, Politico reports, citing two sources familiar with the matter.
According to Politico, one of the secret recordings is of a condolence call Manigault Newman reportedly received from the couple the day after she was fired by chief of staff John Kelly last December. On the call, Ivanka and Kushner reportedly wished Manigault Newman the best and claimed they had no idea that she was being fired.
Politico says that the alleged new tape could serve as proof that Kushner and Ivanka, both senior advisors to the president, were not in the loop on important staffing changes.
“And it would show them offering emotional support to Manigault Newman even after Kelly pushed her out for ethical breaches — capturing on tape the power play between the family and the retired four-star general that has played out in the White House since Kelly joined the administration,” Politico writes.
Manigault Newman transcribed the call in her book, but did not mention having a recording of it. Asked about the alleged tape of Kushner and Ivanka, Manigault Newman’s attorney, John M. Phillips, said in a statement to PEOPLE, “We cannot comment on that other than saying what our client has said. She stands by every quote in Unhinged.”
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has said Manigault Newman’s book is “riddled with lies and false accusations.”
In the past week, Manigault Newman has released recordings of conversations with Kelly and the president that she claims prove Trump “has no idea what’s happening in the White House.”
We despise Omarosa, but we must admit we’re enjoying seeing the White House get exposed even further. You know she’s saving the best for last!
