Aug. 15 (UPI) — President Donald Trump‘s presidential campaign filed for arbitration proceedings against former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman on Tuesday.
A senior Trump campaign official confirmed the filing in a statement to ABC News, saying Manigault Newman’s new book Unhinged breached her 2016 confidentiality agreement with the Trump campaign by disclosing details about her work with the campaign and the White House.
“President Trump is well known for giving people opportunities to advance in their careers and lives over the decades, but wrong is wrong, and a direct violation of an agreement must be addressed and the violator must be held accountable,” the official said.
Manigault Newman has said she refused to sign a non-disclosure agreement while working with the White House, but did sign an NDA for Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, a copy of which was obtained by Politico.
The campaign NDA included a non-disparagement clause that restricted staffers from releasing confidential or detrimental information about Trump, his business, or his family members and their businesses.
Manigault Newman said she doesn’t believe she violated the 2016 NDA with the statements made in her book.
“I don’t believe that I have violated, but I will leave it to the lawyers to sort that out,” she told MSNBC. “It’s interesting that he is trying to silence me, what is he trying to hide or be afraid of?”
At a press briefing on Tuesday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said it was common practice for employees to sign NDA agreements, but didn’t comment on whether she or Manigault Newman had signed one.
“I’m not going to get into the back and forth on who has signed an NDA here at the White House,” she said. “I can tell you that it’s common in a lot of places for employees to sign NDAs, including in government, particularly anyone with a security clearance.”
Trump tweeted Monday that Manigault Newman “fully signed” an NDA, but didn’t specify whether it related to her role in the White House or with the campaign.
