SEPTEMBER 3, 2018
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman recorded her widely disseminated White House conversations using her personal phone, according to Axios.
A source told the news outlet that Manigault Newman often put her phone on “record mode” before conversations about work or professional meetings. She reportedly carried her phone in her purse or pocket.
The source said Manigault Newman wanted to “cover her own butt,” according to the report. She often used her work phone to have conversations and the other phone to record them, Axios reported.
Manigault Newman since the beginning of August has released multiple tapes from her time in the White House.
In one recording, chief of staff John Kelly can be heard firing her from her White House position. Manigault Newman apparently secretly recorded this conversation with Kelly in the White House Situation Room, from which electronic devices are supposed to be banned.
In another tape, President Trump acts surprised that Manigault Newman was fired.
Manigault Newman has stated repeatedly that she believes releasing the tapes was the right thing to do.
“If I did not have this recording, people would still believe the false, incredible story that I was running around the White House … that I tried to charge the residence of the White House. People would still think that I was trying to set off alarms,” she said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” at the time. “So yes, I recorded myself and I have no regret about it.”
Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer last month called Manigault Newman’s taping of Kelly “a massive violation of every security protocol.”
Manigault Newman’s tell-all White House memoir “Unhinged” was released amid a media blitz of shocking claims about the president and his staff, but it has significantly dipped in sales since its release.
Courtesy/Source: The Hill
