Washington • It’s hard to take Omarosa Manigault Newman’s word for anything. But Lordy she has tapes, and they offer vivid proof that Donald Trump’s White House is part clown show, part nest of vipers.
Omarosa achieved single-name fame as a contestant on Trump's show "The Apprentice," where she performed with Shakespearean villainy — lying, cheating, backstabbing, viciously advancing her own interests and sabotaging her rivals. Trump evidently found all of this admirable, because he insisted on bringing her into his administration as a top-level adviser despite her utter lack of experience and qualifications. They deserve each other.
It is no surprise that she wrote a tell-all book after being fired. It's shocking, however, that she managed to secretly record her dismissal by White House chief of staff John Kelly — an encounter that took place in the Situation Room, meant to be a super-secure bunker where the nation's most closely guarded secrets can safely be discussed.
Omarosa's recording of part of that meeting was aired Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." In it, Kelly is heard making what sounds very much like a threat:
"I think it's important to understand that if we make this a friendly departure, we can all be, you know, we 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."
If that wasn't clear enough, Omarosa subsequently received a generous offer. She could receive $15,000 a month to perform vaguely defined duties for Trump's re-election campaign. But she would have to sign a nondisclosure and non-disparagement agreement pledging not to say detrimental things about Trump, Vice President Pence or their family members.
She declined the offer but kept the documents she was asked to sign — and showed them to The Washington Post last week.
On Monday, appearing on the "Today" show, she revealed a recording of a phone call she said she received from Trump the day after she was fired. "Omarosa, what's going on?" Trump is heard to ask. "I just saw on the news that you're thinking about leaving. What happened?"
When she tells him she was axed, Trump claims ignorance. "Nobody even told me about it," he says. "You know they run a big operation, but I didn't know it. I didn't know that. Goddammit. I don't love you leaving at all."
Shortly after that tape was aired, Trump lashed out on Twitter:
“Wacky Omarosa, who got fired 3 times on the Apprentice, now got fired for the last time. She never made it, never will. She begged me for a job, tears in her eyes, I said Ok. People in the White House hated her. She was vicious, but not smart. I would rarely see her but heard really bad things. Nasty to people & would constantly miss meetings & work. When Gen. Kelly came on board he told me she was a loser & nothing but problems. I told him to try working it out, if possible, because she only said GREAT things about me — until she got fired!”
Trump went on to complain that "the Fake News Media will be working overtime" to make Omarosa seem credible now that she is one of his critics. But that's certainly not my intent. She strikes me as a rank opportunist whose only allegiance is to herself.
She claims to have realized only recently that Trump is a "racist, misogynist and bigot." Yet she heard his bigoted attacks on Latino immigrants and still went to work for his campaign. She heard his misogynistic rant about how he sexually assaulted women and still took a job in his administration. She heard his many appeals to white racial grievance and still vigorously defended him, even after Charlottesville.
So no, I'm not inclined to believe anything she claims without documentary evidence to back it up. But the tapes and the documents have not been disputed. Omarosa may not have obtained them honorably, but the old saying is true: There is no honor among thieves.
We don't know what else might be in the conversations with Trump that lawyer Michael Cohen taped. We don't know how many other recordings Omarosa might have made. We don't know who else in the White House might have been keeping their own unauthorized records of conversations and events.
What we do know is why people in Trump's orbit feel they need such insurance: Dishonor and disloyalty start at the top.
Eugene Robinson | The Washington Post
Eugene Robinson writes a twice-a-week column on politics and culture and hosts a weekly online chat with readers. In a three-decade career at The Washington Post, Robinson has been city hall reporter, city editor, foreign correspondent in Buenos Aires and London, foreign editor, and assistant managing editor in charge of the paper’s Style section. Eugene Robinson’s email address is eugenerobinson@washpost.com.
