The Justice Department sued former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman for allegedly failing to file a termination financial disclosure form after she left the Trump administration a year and a half ago.
The civil lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Tuesday, said Manigault Newman “knowingly and willfully failing to file the required public financial disclosure report after her employment terminated.”
The Justice Department, which seeks a civil penalty up to $50,000, said Manigault Newman failed to submit the paperwork despite multiple outreach attempts by the White House ethics counsel, after which the Executive Office of the President referred the matter to the agency.
Manigault Newman’s attorney, John Phillips, responded to the complaint, denying that his client “knowfully and willfully” failed to file a report. Phillips said the White House and its Counsel’s Office “seized” records from Manigault Newman upon her termination as an employee. Over several calls and emails to the White House, Phillips said his client discussed the need for “contents from seven boxes” that were taken at her departure and it was not until May 10 that they agreed to provide to documents or acknowledge their existence.
Manigault Newman and Phillips requested an extension until they receive the documents.
Manigault Newman, who was a contestant on President Trump’s reality TV show The Apprentice, worked as director of communications in the Office of the Public Liaison. She was fired in December 2017.
Last year, she released a tape of then-chief of staff John Kelly firing her, citing “some pretty serious integrity violations.”
While she was promoting her tell-all book Unhinged last fall, Manigault Newman claimed she was likely fired because Kelly knew she was close to obtaining an alleged audio recording of Trump using the N-word.
In August, Trump said Manigault Newman will never work for him again following her recent “vicious” attempts to attack her former colleagues and boss.
Trump’s campaign organization filed for arbitration against Manigault Newman that same month, claiming that she broke a 2016 nondisclosure contract by disparaging the president in her book and revealing private conversations from the White House Situation Room.
