FIVE THINGS ABOUT OMAROSA
1 THE LATEST
President Donald Trump lashed out at Omarosa Manigault Newman Monday, saying the former White House adviser — who is promoting a tell-all book — “got fired for the last time.” On Twitter, Trump labelled Manigault Newman “wacky” and says chief of staff John Kelly called her a “loser & nothing but problems.”
2 THE LEAD-UP
Manigault Newman released another recording Monday, purportedly an excerpt of a conversation between her and Trump after she was fired. It appears to show Trump expressing surprise, saying “nobody even told me about it.”
3 WHAT CRITICS ARE SAYING
Kelly fired Manigault Newman in the Situation Room, where the nation’s most consequential foreign policy decisions are made, and staff are not permitted to bring in cellphones or other recording devices. “I’ve never heard of a more serious breach of protocol,” said Ned Price, who served as spokesman of the National Security Council in the Obama administration. “Not only is it not typical, something like this is unprecedented. … The Situation Room is the inner-most sanctum of a secure campus,” he said.
4 WHAT’S ON THE TAPE
Kelly can be heard saying he wants to talk about her leaving the White House. “If we make this a friendly departure ... you can look at your time here in the White House as a year of service to the nation and then you can go on without any type of difficulty in the future relative to your reputation.”
5 OMAROSA’S RESPONSE
Manigault Newman said she viewed the conversation as a “threat” and defended her decision to record it. “If I didn’t have these recordings, no one in America would believe me.”