On Tuesday, former Trump staffer Omarosa Manigault-Newman’s book Unhinged made its public debut following rounds of media reports about its content. Also on Tuesday, the Trump campaign filed a demand for arbitration over her alleged violation of a nondisclosure agreement she signed as part of her original campaign work. They’re reportedly seeking millions of dollars in damages.
An unnamed campaign official asserted:
‘President Trump is well known for giving people opportunities to advance in their careers and lives over the decades, but wrong is wrong, and a direct violation of an agreement must be addressed and the violator must be held accountable.’
Her book covers both her original time with the Trump campaign and her time in the White House. In one prominent example of reporting on behind-the-scenes campaign work, she shared that a number of Trump campaign staffers, including herself, were aware of detrimental “Trump tapes” and concerned about them. Tuesday, Omarosa shared a tape of a conversation featuring that concern.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COM7Vh1lIMw
The originally concerning “Trump tape” in question — which she believes will become public before the midterm elections later this year — features Donald Trump using the n-word to disparage black people.
That could put her in some kind of legal jeopardy — only time will tell. She has just two weeks to respond to the Trump campaign’s demand for arbitration.
In the meantime, it’s clear that attempts to hold Omarosa to any nondisclosure agreement covering her time in the White House will likely fall flat. Attempts to quiet individuals who held public jobs from discussing non-classified information they learned of as a part of that job just don’t legally work.
University of Florida law professor Mark Fenster commented:
‘Either [Trump’s] getting incompetent legal advice or he’s just looking to coerce people once they leave.’
Whether or not any nondisclosure agreement covering Omarosa’s time in the White House is actually enforceable, Trump is certainly trying to bully her into silence.
On Monday, he tweeted:
‘Wacky Omarosa already has a fully signed Non-Disclosure Agreement!’
It’s not immediately clear if Trump is referring to one she signed specifically covering her White House work or one she signed before that which may be more legally enforceable. Omarosa, for her part, asserted that she didn’t even sign an NDA covering her time in the White House.
On Sunday, further muddying the waters, longtime Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway said on ABC’s This Week:
‘We have confidentiality agreements in the West Wing, absolutely we do — and why wouldn’t we?’
More recently, on Tuesday, he continued on with his campaign of coercion against Omarosa.
He tweeted:
‘When you give a crazed, crying lowlife a break, and give her a job at the White House, I guess it just didn’t work out. Good work by General Kelly for quickly firing that dog!’
Trump is clearly deeply troubled by the information that Omarosa has to share with the world, lending some credibility to the claims whether he likes it or not. His continued freaking out over Omarosa’s book is reminiscent of his bristling at the very existence of the Russia investigation. He’s paranoid like a man guilty of exactly what he’s accused of.
Featured Image via YouTube screenshot
