Recording: Omarosa offered $15,000 a month to be ‘positive’
Omarosa Manigault Newman on Thursday released another secret audio recording that she says proves President Donald Trump wanted to silence her after firing her from the White House. In the recording played on MSNBC, Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump offers Manigault Newman a job earning $15,000 a month. The job wouldn’t require her to report to any particular office or have a specific set of duties, other than to speak positively on Trump’s behalf as part of his re-election campaign. Lara Trump, married to Eric Trump, can be heard on the tape noting a New York Times report that suggested Manigault Newman had inside information that could be damaging to Trump. “It sounds a little like, obviously, that there are some things you’ve got in the back pocket to pull out,” Lara Trump said. “Clearly, if you come on board the campaign, like, we can’t have, we got to … “ Manigault Newman interjects: “Oh, God, no.” “Everything, everybody, positive, right?” Lara Trump asks. The secret recording is one of several Manigault Newman released this week to back up her claims in her new book, “Unhinged.” In a written response Thursday, Lara Trump said her entire family was concerned for Manigault Newman after she was fired “because we had no idea about the basis for her dismissal,” but “we still wanted her on our team because we cared so much about her personally.” Lara Trump says that’s why she reached out and offered Manigault Newman a job on the re-election campaign “before we knew anything about the gross violations of ethics and integrity during her White House tenure.” Lara Trump says that the latest tape is a “fraud” and that the snippets of discussion aired by MSNBC “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,” the president’s daughter-in-law said. The president on Thursday tweeted: “Thank you for the kind words, Omarosa” in a post that included the link to a video, released by the Republican National Committee, that is a compilation of broadcast interviews in which Manigault Newman makes positive comments about Trump. The RNC released the video on Twitter under the headline, “Guess she forgot about these tapes.” MSNBC also played the GOP video for Manigault Newman during its interview with her. A former contestant on Trump’s reality TV show “The Apprentice,” Manigault Newman was one of Trump’s most prominent African-American supporters during his campaign. He hired her to be a White House assistant, earning $179,700 a year as director of communications for the White House office of public liaison. But she was deeply disliked by many of her colleagues and eventually was ousted by Trump’s chief of staff, John Kelly, for “significant integrity issues.” According to other recordings released this week, Trump appeared to be in the dark on her December 2017 firing. And Kelly suggested, “If we make this a friendly departure … you can go on without any type of difficulty in the future relative to your reputation.” Manigault Newman alleges there is a tape of Trump using a racial slur while working on “The Apprentice.” Trump denies this and has lashed out at his former aide on Twitter, calling her “wacky and deranged,” ”not smart” and a “dog.” Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
Donald Trump recorded discussing paying for Playboy model’s story
Two months before the 2016 election, Donald Trump and his former lawyer discussed plans to pay for a former Playboy model’s story of alleged an affair, according to a secretly recorded tape of the conversation released amid an escalating feud between the president and his longtime personal attorney. The audio recording, surreptitiously made by Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen, appears to contradict the Trump campaign’s later claim that the president knew nothing about a media company’s purchase of model Karen McDougal‘s story and any efforts to keep it from becoming public. The tape captures the soon-to-be elected president and his lawyer discussing logistics of financing and whether to “pay with cash,” although the sound is muffled and Trump’s instructions on that are unclear. Lawyers for Trump and Cohen are disputing what was said. The tape was provided to CNN on Tuesday by Cohen’s attorney, Lanny Davis, and signals a new level of open hostility between the president and the man who once described himself as Trump’s “fixer.” Cohen, who is under federal investigation for potential bank fraud and campaign finance violations, has shown a growing willingness to reveal damaging information. On Wednesday, Trump vented on Twitter about the release of the surreptitious tape. “What kind of a lawyer would tape a client? So sad!” he said. “Is this a first, never heard of it before? Why was the tape so abruptly terminated (cut) while I was presumably saying positive things?” In an earlier interview, Davis said Cohen released the tape in response to an “intense campaign of disparagement” from Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and the president’s team, accusing Giuliani of “inventing words” as he disputes whether Trump referred to cash payments on the tape. Giuliani says Trump said “don’t pay with cash,” which he says shows Trump was not trying to hide the potential payment. “The word is ‘cash.’ Everybody should listen to the tape and see whether I’m right or not,” Davis said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” He also hinted that Cohen may have more to say. “Michael Cohen has turned a corner in his life and he’s now dedicated to telling the truth to everyone, and we’ll see what happens,” Davis said. Asked if Cohen was still seeking a presidential pardon while under federal investigation, Davis responded simply: “No.” The taped conversation between Trump and Cohen came weeks after the National Enquirer’s parent company reached a $150,000 deal to pay McDougal for her story of a 2006 affair, which it never published, a tabloid practice known as catch and kill. The men appear to be discussing buying the rights to McDougal’s story from the Enquirer’s parent company. Trumps lawyers say the payments were never made. Cohen can be heard on the tape saying that he needed to start a company “for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend David,” a possible reference to David Pecker, Trump’s friend and president of the National Enquirer’s parent company, American Media Inc. When Cohen begins to discuss financing, Trump interrupts him and asks, “What financing?” “We’ll have to pay,” Cohen responded. The audio is muffled, but Trump can be heard saying “pay with cash,” though it isn’t clear if he is suggesting to pay with cash or not to pay with cash. Cohen immediately says, “No, no, no” and Trump can then be heard saying, “check.” Giuliani, told The Associated Press that he’s had an expert, whom he did not name, enhance the recording and the president says “don’t pay with cash.” “It clearly indicates that the president did not want to pay with cash. Suggesting otherwise is ridiculous and is inconsistent with the rest of the conversation, during which it was discussed doing it through a corporation,” Giuliani said. Giuliani said Cohen, as Trump’s lawyer, thought it would be best if he could buy the rights to McDougal’s story and the recording captures the two of them discussing how to do that. “Cohen says I have to pay him. The president brings up cash and says don’t pay with cash and says ‘check,’ He wants it memorialized,” Giuliani said. “Cohen then says ‘No, no, no, no’ and he cuts off the tape. He obviously cuts it off in mid-sentence and that in itself is suspicious.” “The president wanted to do it the right way. If you wanted to hide something, you would not do it by corporation or check,” he said. Giuliani said he didn’t know why the payment was never made. Davis said he released the tape because his client has been smeared in the press and wanted to set the record straight. He noted Trump does not appear to be learning about the McDougal matter for the first time and does not appear surprised by Cohen’s plans. “Listen to the tape. Donald Trump is not shocked money is being paid about someone named Karen McDougal,” Davis said during an interview with CNN. American Media, Inc.’s payment effectively silenced McDougal through the election, though days beforehand news of the deal emerged in The Wall Street Journal. At the time, a Trump spokeswoman said his campaign had “no knowledge of any of this.” The FBI raided Cohen’s office, home and hotel room in April, searching in part for information about payments to McDougal and porn actress Stormy Daniels, who says she had a sexual relationship with Trump in 2006 — which Trump denies — and was paid $130,000 as part of a non-disclosure agreement signed days before the 2016 election. A dozen audio recordings seized during those raids were forwarded to federal prosecutors last week after lawyers dropped challenges on attorney-client privilege grounds. Giuliani said those recordings captured Cohen discussing the president with third parties, who he would not identify. They are also being enhanced by experts, he said. Trump and Cohen can also be heard on the recording released Tuesday discussing other legal issues, including fighting a request by The New York Times to unseal court records concerning Trump’s divorce from his first wife,
