BRIDGEWATER, N.J. (AP) - The Latest on former presidential adviser Omarosa Manigault Newman (all times local):
10:05 p.m.
President Donald Trump says he received a call from the producer of “The Apprentice” assuring him that no tapes exist of him using the N-word, as former White House adviser Omarosa Manigault Newman claims.
Trump tweets that Mark Burnett called to say “there are NO TAPES of the Apprentice where I used such a terrible and disgusting word as attributed by Wacky and Deranged Omarosa.”
Trump insists, “I don’t have that word in my vocabulary, and never have.” He says Manigault Newman had called him “a true Champion of Civil Rights” until she was fired.
Manigault Newman writes in her new memoir that she’d heard such tapes existed. She now says she listened to one after the book closed.
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7:15 p.m.
A spokeswoman for Melania Trump says the first lady is disappointed by the “self-serving way” that former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman is “lashing out” and “retaliating” against President Donald Trump.
Stephanie Grisham, the spokeswoman, says Manigault Newman’s behavior is especially disappointing after “all the opportunities given to her by the President.”
Manigault Newman has been on a media blitz to promote her new book, “Unhinged,” in which she depicts Trump as racist and misogynistic. Her relationship with Trump dates to 2003, when Manigault Newman first appeared on Trump’s reality TV show “The Apprentice.”
Trump has responded by calling his former aide as a “lowlife,” ’’wacky” and “not smart.”
Mrs. Trump’s spokeswoman adds that the first lady “rarely, if ever, interacted with Omarosa.”
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10 a.m.
President Donald Trump is lashing out at former White House adviser Omarosa Manigault Newman, calling her “Wacky Omarosa” and saying she has been “fired for the last time.”
Manigault Newman, who has authored a book entitled “Unhinged,” has released audio recordings she made, including one of her firing by chief of staff John Kelly in the Situation Room.
Trump tweets Monday that Kelly said Manigault Newman was a “loser & nothing but problems.” He adds: “I told him to try working it out, if possible, because she only said GREAT things about me - until she got fired!”
Manigault Newman’s book is out Tuesday. It paints a damning picture of Trump, including claiming without evidence that tapes exist of him using the N-word as he filmed his “The Apprentice” reality series, on which she co-starred.
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7:55 a.m.
President Donald Trump’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani, says he thinks Omarosa Manigault Newman may have broken the law by recording private conversations at the White House. And, he adds, she should have been more loyal to the president because “Donald Trump made her.”
Giuliani told Fox News’ “Fox & Friends”: “What kind of ingratitude is this?”
When asked if she broke the law, Giuliani said: “She’s certainly violating national security regulations, which I think have the force of law.”
Manigault Newman said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that she surreptitiously recorded a number of conversations in the White House for her own protection. Parts of her conversation with Chief of Staff John Kelly were played on the air. Critics denounced the recordings as a serious breach of ethics and security.
On Monday, she released a recorded conversation she says was with President Donald Trump after her firing. In the recording, he appears to express surprise at her departure and says “Nobody even told me about it.”
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7:25 a.m.
Former presidential adviser Omarosa Manigault Newman is releasing an audio recording of a conversation she says she had with President Donald Trump after she was fired from the White House.
An excerpt was aired on NBC’s “Today Show” Monday. On the recording, Trump expresses surprise that she had been asked to leave. He says: “Nobody even told me about it.”
Manigault Newman is drawing fire for the secret recordings she made at the White House, including one of her firing by chief of staff John Kelly in the high-security Situation Room.
Parts of her conversation with Kelly were aired on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday as Manigault Newman promotes her new book, “Unhinged.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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12:15 a.m.
An admission by former presidential adviser Omarosa Manigault Newman that she secretly recorded her firing by chief of staff John Kelly in the high-security Situation Room is drawing fire from allies of the president and national security experts.
Manigault Newman said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that she surreptitiously recorded a number of conversations in the White House for her own protection.
Critics denounced the recordings as a serious breach of ethics and security.
Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel tweeted: “Who in their right mind thinks it’s appropriate to secretly record the White House chief of staff in the Situation Room?”
A former National Security Council spokesman called it “unprecedented” and a serious breach of protocol.
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