Fired White House aide says Kelly threatened her
WASHINGTON — Omarosa Manigault Newman, the fired White House aide on a book tour for her new memoir about her time in the Trump administration, said in an interview Sunday that the way White House Chief of Staff John Kelly dismissed her involved a “threat” and played an audio recording of Kelly that she said she made in the Situation Room.
The recording was played on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” where Manigault Newman was interviewed by Chuck Todd.
In the purported recording, Kelly is heard complaining about her “significant integrity issues” and saying that he wants to make her departure “friendly” and without “any difficulty in the future relative to your reputation.”
The Washington Post reported Friday that after being fired, Manigault Newman declined a $15,000-a-month job offer from President Donald Trump’s campaign, which came with a nondisclosure agreement stating that she could not make disparaging comments about the campaign, Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, their families, any Trump or Pence family company or asset, and that the agreement would survive even if her contract expired, was canceled or shewas fired.
The Post obtained copies of what Manigault Newman said was the job offer and the companion agreement.
In her interview with Todd, she said she considered the offer an attempt to buy her silence.
In a statement Friday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders described the book as “riddled with lies and false accusations.” On Saturday, Trump called Manigault Newman a “lowlife.”
Manigault Newman was fired from her administration position in December amid allegations of misconduct, including trying to stage her wedding photos on White House grounds.
Recordings inside the White House are a serious breach of security protocol, said Ned Price, a former National Security Council spokesman for the Obama administration.
Price said cellphones and recording devices are not allowed in the Situation Room, though aides are not screened before entering.
“It’s a system based on honor and integrity,” he said.