President Donald Trump’s campaign has been ordered to pay up after Trump unsuccessfully sued Omarosa Manigault Newman for writing a tell-all book where she calls the former Republican head of state a racist.
Trump’s campaign filed a lawsuit in 2018 alleging that Manigault Newman violated her nondisclosure agreement by writing the exposé. A New York arbitrator found the agreement too vague, ruling against Trump in September. Now the arbitrator has ordered his presidential campaign to pay $1.3 million for Manigault Newman’s legal fees, according to reports.
“It’s the largest known attorney fee award against a Political Campaign or President we can find and hopefully will send a message that weaponized litigation will not be tolerated and empower other lawyers to stand up and fight for the whistleblower and vocal critic against the oppressive machine,” Manigault Newman’s attorney, John M. Phillips, said in a statement.
Manigault Newman and Trump formed a bond when they were co-stars on NBC’s “The Apprentice” in 2004. Trump produced and hosted the reality show that increased public notoriety for both stars.
Manigault Newman made waves on the show as a fierce, sharp-mouthed businesswoman, which also was translated on other reality shows and in interviews. She always seemed to make page-turning headlines. E! News labeled Manigault Newman “the bad girl of reality TV” in 2010.
Trump was also known for his billionaire empire and relentless tongue. He took his persona from the television screen to the White House, where he picked Manigault Newman to be assistant to the president and director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison in January 2017. Some pundits called it a pander to Black America.
The move, however, catapulted Manigault Newman to the label “sellout” by Black America.
“I get why a lot of people detest Omarosa,” Chicago Tribune columnist Dahleen Glanton wrote. “They think she’s an opportunist who gave up her Black card and threw us under the bus in order to get ahead, and she’s using her newfound blackness to sell books.”
She once said former President Barrack Obama used the “race card” to get elected while lobbying for Trump, adding to the barrage of racial attacks the then-presidential candidate had made against the nation’s first Black president. Trump had accused Obama of being born in Kenya.
He had a recorded history of discrimination against Black tenants in his real estate business and fueled his campaign by smearing Mexicans and Muslims in 2016.
By the end of 2017, Manigault Newman had gone from being able to pick up the phone and text the president to being abruptly fired from her post by his chief of staff.
In August 2018, she released “Unhinged: An Insider’s Account of the Trump White House” in which she proclaimed Trump was a “racist, a bigot and a misogynist.” She also released secretly recorded conversations with Trump and his White House team.
While Manigault Newman toured the nation to promote the book, Trump’s campaign filed the arbitration action, contending that the former aide took a confidentiality pledge when she agreed to join his political campaign in 2016. Arbitrator T. Andrew Brown struck down the argument in his Sept. 24 ruling.
“The Agreement effectively imposes on [her] an obligation to never say anything remotely critical of Mr. Trump, his family or his or his family members’ businesses, for the rest of her life,” Brown wrote. “Such a burden is certainly unreasonable.”
Since the ruling, both sides have battled over the amount Manigault Newman should be awarded for legal fees. The campaign’s lawyers argued that the defendant’s arguments were baseless and unwarranted for reimbursement. Brown ruled on Tuesday that Manigault Newman was up against an “opponent who undoubtedly commanded far greater resources.”
The ruling seemed to pit the two antagonists against each other in the public arena. For many on social media, their jubilation over Trump’s loss overpowered their disdain for Manigault Newman.
“Don’t like Omarosa one bit, but this news gives me satisfaction. I’m sure he will try to get out of paying it, but eventually he will have to pay up,” Twitter user Joyce Davis wrote. “So many roosters coming home to nest. Can’t wait to see him pay for January 6th. This is a little proof he can’t run from justice.”
Some even seemed to return the reality supervillain’s Black card.
“Trump campaign ordered pay $1.3 million to Omarosa for legal fees,” Don Lewis tweeted. “A Black woman getting the best of Trump. A sign of things to come? They do say things happen in threes.”
Manigault Newman likened her victory to David and Goliath in a tweet following the ruling.
“First year law student vs. #45’s entire legal team. (David vs. Goliath)👩🏾💻…
… Now pardon me as I get back to studying for my Contract Law final exam.”
