Omarosa releases tape of Lara Trump offering her campaign job

Former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman on Thursday shared a recording of a conversation in which President Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, offers her $15,000 a month to work on the president’s campaign after she was fired from the administration.

The recording, played on the air by MSNBC, reveals Lara Trump, an adviser for the president’s  campaign, discussing the flexible terms of a role for Manigault Newman. The conversation reportedly took place on Dec. 16, 2017, just days after Manigault Newman was fired from the White House.

On the recording, Lara Trump mentions a New York Times story that suggests Manigault Newman could have more to say about her time in the White House following her departure.

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“They wrote about you. It sounds a little like, obviously, that there are some things you’ve got in the back pocket to pull out,” Lara Trump says on the recording.

“Clearly, if you come on board the campaign, like, we can’t have … Everything, everybody positive, right?” she adds.

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— MSNBC (@MSNBC) August 16, 2018

Lara Trump goes on to describe the terms of Manigault Newman’s position, which she suggests would include some speaking engagements and would allow the former aide to work from Washington, D.C., or New York City, depending on her preference.

Lara Trump adds that the campaign would offer Manigault Newman a salary of $15,000 a month, which is a comparable amount to what she made in the White House.

The audio appears to confirm Manigault Newman’s claim in her new book that she was offered a job by the Trump campaign after leaving the White House. She alleges the payment amounted to hush money.

Lara Trump issued a statement shortly after the recording aired asserting that she offered Manigault Newman a job because the Trump family was concerned about her dismissal and “cared about her personally.”

She went on to allege that the tape is a “fraud,” because conversations about a position on the campaign team took place 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,” Lara Trump said in a statement.

“I hope it’s all worth it for you, Omarosa, because some things you just can’t put a price on,” the statement added.

The campaign earlier this week filed for arbitration with Manigault Newman, alleging she violated a 2016 nondisclosure agreement.

MSNBC played four separate clips of Manigault Newman’s conversation with Lara Trump. But MSNBC disclosed that she played the full conversation for a producer to ensure the recordings were not taken out of context. 

Manigault Newman, who rose to fame on “The Apprentice” and was fired from the administration in December, has in recent days revealed she secretly taped conversations during her time on the Trump campaign and in the White House.

A few of the tapes have trickled out over the course of her television appearances to promote her new book, “Unhinged: An Insider’s Account of the Trump White House,” and she has teased the existence of additional recordings. 

“There are things I’m going to save to share when the time is right,” Manigault Newman said Thursday.

“I’ll do what I need to do to protect myself,” she added.

Manigault Newman first revealed on Sunday that she recorded chief of staff John Kelly in the Situation Room during her firing. She has not disclosed how she was able to record inside the secure area, but national security experts have deemed it a significant breach of protocol.

Manigault Newman shared audio the next day of President Trump expressing surprise and disappointment upon hearing about her departure from the White House. 

She went on to release a taped conversation with two former Trump campaign aides discussing the existence of a tape where the president utters the N-word.

The two aides — Katrina Pierson and Lynne Patton — have since claimed they were merely attempting to placate Manigault Newman, who they say was “obsessed” with the alleged recording of the president. 

The White House has blasted Manigault Newman as a disgruntled former employee looking to profit off her time in the administration, with multiple aides noting that Manigault Newman was effusive in her praise of the the president before, during and immediately after her time in office.

Meanwhile, President Trump has labeled her a “lowlife,” “wacky and deranged” and a “dog” in a series of scathing tweets.

Manigault Newman has managed to seize control of the news cycle and the president’s attention for much of the week. 

However, she was displaced as the main story on Wednesday when the White House announced it was revoking former CIA Director John Brennan’s security clearance.

Asked Thursday why she chose to release the latest recording now, Manigault Newman framed it as an effort to further defend her credibility.

“I think it’s important as people question the credibility of everything you see in ‘Unhinged.’ … I think it’s important not only to point to these things but to also blow the whistle on the corruption of the things that are going on in this family, in this administration and in this campaign,” she said.

“Donald Trump has met his match,” she added.

Updated at 2:05 p.m.