Omarosa's Florida Lawyer Takes to Twitter in Feud With Trump Campaign
Former White House employee Omarosa Manigault Newman is assembling a team of lawyers to fight the Trump campaign's allegations that she violated a nondisclosure agreement when she released an audio tape of her firing.
August 15, 2018 at 02:49 PM
5 minute read
It seems that President Donald Trump is not the only one airing grievances on Twitter in his public spat with former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman.
Newman's Florida lawyer, John M.Phillips, of the Law Offices of John M. Phillips in Jacksonville, Florida, also seems to have a penchant for the social media platform.
“I got a call from @realDonaldTrump's 2016 campaign lawyers,” Phillips tweeted Tuesday afternoon. “I asked why they took the alleged arbitration petition to the media BEFORE serving Omarosa or her legal team. I ended the call with a lesson on professionalism.”
He ended the tweet with two hashtags: #dobetter and #unhinged, a nod to the title of Newman's new book.
I got a call from @realDonaldTrump's 2016 campaign lawyers. I asked why they took the alleged arbitration petition to the media BEFORE serving Omarosa or her legal team. I ended the call with a lesson on professionalism. #dobetter #unhinged
— John M. Phillips (@JohnPhillips) August 14, 2018
The Trump campaign on Tuesday announced it had filed an arbitration action against Newman for allegedly breaching a 2016 nondisclosure agreement when she released audio of Chief of Staff John Kelly firing her in the White House Situation Room.
According to Phillips, Newman is assembling a team of lawyers to handle the arbitration, but they're not yet able to comment on the case.
It's my pleasure to represent @OMAROSA. I was with her today when @realDonaldTrump called her a “low life,” forgetting “all men (and women) are created equal” in this country. We look forward to @potus returning her items & addressing his administration's duress & lies. #unhinged pic.twitter.com/fK8FvrY63V
— John M. Phillips (@JohnPhillips) August 11, 2018
But Phillips did tweet about his past with the reality television star, who rose to fame on Trump's show, “The Apprentice.”
“Many have asked about how Omarosa and I met. My team found this photo,” Phillips tweeted, captioning a screenshot of a panel featured on television network news. “We met many years ago mutually fighting for justice for all. We've served turkey to the hungry and fought wrongs together.”
Newman lost her job during a meeting with the White House chief of staff. During that meeting, her tapes suggest Kelly said, ”I think it's important to understand that if we can make this a friendly departure we can all be, you know, you can look at your time here in the White House as a year of service to the nation. And then you can go on without any type of difficulty in the future relative to your reputation.”
Newman made the audio public, claiming Kelly's comments were threatening. She also released a book, “Unhinged: An Insider's Account of the Trump White House,” unpacking salacious details about Trump and his administration.
In response to the audio leak, Trump tweeted on Aug. 13 that “Wacky Omarosa already has a fully signed Non-Disclosure Agreement!”
The Trump campaign is reported to have hired Charles Harder, to represent him in the arbitration action. Harder, who also represented Hulk Hogan in a sex tape lawsuit against former gossip blog Gawker, did not respond to request for comment before deadline.
The Trump campaign's lawyers reportedly contacted Newman's lawyer Phillips about the arbitration, according to his Twitter feed. Arbitration aims to resolve a dispute with an impartial adjudicator, whose ultimate decision on a matter is final and binding.
While working for the Trump campaign, Newman was director of African-American outreach. But she alluded to the existence of one recording in which Trump allegedly used the N-word while filming “The Apprentice.”
Trump responded to the allegation with a tweet saying, “I don't have that word in my vocabulary and never have. She made it up.” He fired Newman three times on his reality TV show.
On Aug. 14, Newman told Trevor Noah on “The Daily Show” that the Trump administration “lied to the American people every single day, so it doesn't surprise me that when they're faced with the truth they'll push back.”
As part of the White House staff, Newman said she was “totally complicit” but that she “didn't go in thinking we were going to lie.”
Related stories:
Omarosa Trump Tapes Could Mean 'Open Season on Privacy Rights' in the Workplace
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllLaw Firms Expand Scope of Immigration Expertise Amid Blitz of Trump Orders
6 minute read'Reluctant to Trust'?: NY Courts Continue to Grapple With Complexities of Jury Diversity
Trending Stories
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250