Omarosa’s publisher knocks ‘hollow legal threats’ from Trump campaign
Omarosa Manigault Newman’s publisher maintained Thursday that it would still produce the former White House aide’s tell-all book despite “legal threats” from President Trump’s campaign.
The campaign, in a move led by high-profile attorney Charles Harder, filed an arbitration action on Tuesday against Manigault Newman, alleging that the former Trump aide breached a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) she signed while working on the campaign in 2016.
“Put simply, the book’s purpose is to inform the public,” Simon & Schuster’s outside counsel Elizabeth McNamara wrote in a response to Harder reported by CNN. “Private contracts like the NDA may not be used to censor former or current government officials from speaking about non-classified information learned during the course of their public employment.”
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She noted that Trump’s legal team threatened that the publication of “Unhinged: An Insider’s Account of the Trump White House” would face “substantial monetary damages and punitive damages” linked to claims stemming from the book or the confidentiality agreement.
“My clients will not be intimidated by hollow legal threats and have proceeded with publication of the Book as schedule,” the Simon & Schuster letter added. “Should you pursue litigation against S&S, we are confident that documents related to the contents of the Book in the possession of President Trump, his family members, his businesses, the Trump Campaign, and his administration will prove particularly relevant to our defense.”
Manigault Newman’s account of her time in the Trump White House has dominated political news over the past week, buttressed by the almost-daily release of secret recordings from the former aide’s time working for Trump.
Her book has shot up bestseller lists on Amazon and Simon Schuster amid continued media coverage surrounding the former “Apprentice” star and various damaging claims she has made about the Trump administration and the president himself.
Trump called Manigault Newman a “crazed, crying lowlife” and a “dog” in a tweet on Tuesday, while praising his chief of staff John Kelly for firing her last year.