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‘This is . . . Nixonian’: Reporter was taped by White House in heated exchange
Omarosa Manigault, aide to President Trump, watches during a meeting with parents and teachers in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017.© Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Omarosa Manigault, aide to President Trump, watches during a meeting with parents and teachers in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017.
A top aide to President Trump said she has a recording of a dispute with a White House reporter, and has shared parts of it with journalists.
Omarosa Manigault, a communications official at the White House, engaged in a heated exchange steps from the Oval Office last week with April Ryan, a reporter with American Urban Radio Networks. Ryan said she felt “physically intimidated” by Manigault, who she said told her that Ryan was among a handful of journalists on whom the White House was keeping “dossiers” of negative information.
Ryan said she was not aware that her run-in with Manigault last week was recorded. “I didn’t know she was taping it,” she said. “This is about her trying to smear my name. This is freaking Nixonian.”
Manigault said the White House’s press staff recorded the encounter and that its contents make clear she never threatened Ryan or mentioned “dossiers.”
“She came in [to the White House press-staff area] hot,” hurling insults at her, Manigault said. “She came in with an attitude. For her to characterize me as the bully — I’m so glad we have this tape … because it’s ‘liar, liar, pants on fire’ ” in Ryan’s case, Manigault said.
Making such a recording is legal under District of Columbia law; the city has a “one-party consent” law, which makes it legal to record a phone call or conversation if one person in the conversation consents. It is illegal, however, to record both parties if neither has consented.
Manigault, who appeared as a contestant on Trump’s reality shows “The Apprentice” and “Celebrity Apprentice,” asserted that White House press staff regularly records interviews between reporters and officials. “We do it all the time,” she said. “When you come into [the press staff’s offices], you’re on the record.”
Several veteran White House reporters said interviews are sometimes recorded by officials but that it was unheard of to do so without a reporter’s prior knowledge.
Manigault said “a colleague,” whom she didn’t identify, made the recording of her encounter with Ryan.
Fox News White House reporter John Roberts was among a handful of reporters who heard the recording Tuesday. He said via email that he heard a discussion between the two women in which some terse words and accusations were exchanged, but it didn’t amount to a confrontation. He said that some portions of the recording were difficult to hear clearly or understand fully, but he did not hear the word ‘dossier’ mentioned.
Ryan stood by her account and charged that Manigault “selected pieces” of their exchange. “She wants to spin it like it’s a catfight, but she edited that tape,” she said. “You don’t hear her screaming. This is about her smearing me.”
Manigault and Ryan were formerly friends; Manigault had even asked Ryan last summer to be a bridesmaid in her forthcoming wedding. But their relationship soured in the fall when Manigault, then working on Trump’s presidential campaign, suggested in emails to Ryan that the journalist was accepting money from Hillary Clinton’s campaign for favorable coverage. Ryan vigorously denied it.
“Protect your legacy!!” Manigault wrote to Ryan in October. “You have worked too hard to have people question your ethics as a journalist.” She cited a story that mentioned the Clinton campaign’s efforts to woo journalists and added, “This story suggests that as a reporter, you are (or were) a paid Clinton surrogate. I pray this is not true! This could be hurtful to your legacy and the integrity of your work.”
Omarosa Manigault, aide to President Trump, watches during a meeting with parents and teachers in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017.© Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Omarosa Manigault, aide to President Trump, watches during a meeting with parents and teachers in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017.
A top aide to President Trump said she has a recording of a dispute with a White House reporter, and has shared parts of it with journalists.
Omarosa Manigault, a communications official at the White House, engaged in a heated exchange steps from the Oval Office last week with April Ryan, a reporter with American Urban Radio Networks. Ryan said she felt “physically intimidated” by Manigault, who she said told her that Ryan was among a handful of journalists on whom the White House was keeping “dossiers” of negative information.
Ryan said she was not aware that her run-in with Manigault last week was recorded. “I didn’t know she was taping it,” she said. “This is about her trying to smear my name. This is freaking Nixonian.”
Manigault said the White House’s press staff recorded the encounter and that its contents make clear she never threatened Ryan or mentioned “dossiers.”
“She came in [to the White House press-staff area] hot,” hurling insults at her, Manigault said. “She came in with an attitude. For her to characterize me as the bully — I’m so glad we have this tape … because it’s ‘liar, liar, pants on fire’ ” in Ryan’s case, Manigault said.
Making such a recording is legal under District of Columbia law; the city has a “one-party consent” law, which makes it legal to record a phone call or conversation if one person in the conversation consents. It is illegal, however, to record both parties if neither has consented.
Manigault, who appeared as a contestant on Trump’s reality shows “The Apprentice” and “Celebrity Apprentice,” asserted that White House press staff regularly records interviews between reporters and officials. “We do it all the time,” she said. “When you come into [the press staff’s offices], you’re on the record.”
Several veteran White House reporters said interviews are sometimes recorded by officials but that it was unheard of to do so without a reporter’s prior knowledge.
Manigault said “a colleague,” whom she didn’t identify, made the recording of her encounter with Ryan.
Fox News White House reporter John Roberts was among a handful of reporters who heard the recording Tuesday. He said via email that he heard a discussion between the two women in which some terse words and accusations were exchanged, but it didn’t amount to a confrontation. He said that some portions of the recording were difficult to hear clearly or understand fully, but he did not hear the word ‘dossier’ mentioned.
Ryan stood by her account and charged that Manigault “selected pieces” of their exchange. “She wants to spin it like it’s a catfight, but she edited that tape,” she said. “You don’t hear her screaming. This is about her smearing me.”
Manigault and Ryan were formerly friends; Manigault had even asked Ryan last summer to be a bridesmaid in her forthcoming wedding. But their relationship soured in the fall when Manigault, then working on Trump’s presidential campaign, suggested in emails to Ryan that the journalist was accepting money from Hillary Clinton’s campaign for favorable coverage. Ryan vigorously denied it.
“Protect your legacy!!” Manigault wrote to Ryan in October. “You have worked too hard to have people question your ethics as a journalist.” She cited a story that mentioned the Clinton campaign’s efforts to woo journalists and added, “This story suggests that as a reporter, you are (or were) a paid Clinton surrogate. I pray this is not true! This could be hurtful to your legacy and the integrity of your work.”
