Face of Nation : WASHINGTON — The Justice Department filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Omarosa Manigault Newman alleging that the former “Apprentice” star who served as an adviser to President Donald Trump before becoming a prominent critic of his administration failed to file a financial disclosure report after she was fired from the White House.
In a civil complaint filed in federal court in Washington, the department said Manigault Newman failed to file the report despite several emails reminding her to do so. Such a report is required of employees who leave government jobs. The Justice Department is seeking a $50,000 penalty against Manigault Newman.
Manigault Newman was unavailable for comment. Her attorney, John Phillips, accused the White House of using the Justice Department to retaliate against Manigault Newman and said allegations that she “knowingly and willfully” did not file the disclosure report is untrue.
Phillips said the White House is still in possession of documents that Manigault Newman needed to file the report. He said Manigault Newman repeatedly requested these files from the White House, and told staffers in “several calls and emails” that she needed the contents of “seven boxes” of documents that were seized after her firing. The White House agreed to provide the documents on May 10, months after the deadline to file the report, but Phillips said Manigault Newman has not received any of the files.
Manigault Newman was assistant to the president and director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison at the White House. Her annual salary was $179,700 a year, the top pay allowed by law for White House aides. Former chief of staff John Kelly fired her in December 2017 after less than a year on the job.
Manigault Newman later published a tell-all book describing the Trump White House as “the most chaotic, outrageous” in history. She also revealed that she had secretly recorded a Situation Room conversation in which Kelly fired her, as well as another conversation with Trump afterward.
The former “Apprentice” star, who said she worked closely with Trump for more than 15 years before he became president, has since been the subject of presidential insults on Twitter.
Trump tweeted in August 2018 that “Wacky Omarosa” “begged” him for a job and that White House staffers hated her.
