Omarosa claims president called Trump Jr. a ‘f— up’ for releasing Trump Tower emails
Former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman claims in her upcoming book that President Trump referred to his eldest son as a “f— up” for releasing emails about the 2016 Trump Tower campaign meeting with a Russian lawyer with connections to the Kremlin.
“He is such a f— up,” the president allegedly said, according to Manigault Newman, after he saw his son had posted screenshots of emails setting up the meeting. “He screwed up again, but this time, he’s screwing us all, big-time!”
The remarks were reported by the New York Daily News, which obtained a copy of the book.
{mosads}The White House has repeatedly accused Manigault Newman, who was fired from her position working for Trump late last year, of lying in order to sell books.
The claim is one of several that have already made headlines ahead of the book’s release.
The ousted aide has also revealed that she secretly recorded a number of conversations with the president and other White House officials.
The June 2016 meeting has been a focus of the investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia in the presidential election.
Trump Jr., pre-empting a New York Times report on the meeting, released a chain of emails related to setting up the meeting one year after it took place.
The content of the emails showed Russia-linked British publicist Rob Goldstone, who acted as an intermediary, offering incriminating information on Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. The emails also showed that Trump Jr. was told of the lawyer’s links to Moscow ahead of the meeting, which he previously denied.
At the time the emails were released, the president defended his son as a “high-quality person” and applauding his “transparency.”
Trump Jr. had downplayed the meeting, saying that it was about adoption policy as related to American sanctions on Russia and describing it as a “waste of time.”
Earlier this month, President Trump contradicted his previous statements about the meeting. In a tweet refuting reports that he is concerned that his son may have inadvertently broken the law, the president confirmed that the meeting was held “to get information on an opponent.”
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