Trump Campaign Asks Omarosa Manigault Newman To Spend $1 Million To Fund Ads To End Lawsuit

In a potentially illegal money-grab, the Trump presidential campaign has asked former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman to fund a $1 million series of ads. In legal documentation of the request, expert witness Eric W. Rose asserts that Manigault Newman would be remedying the effects of critical comments she made against President Donald Trump in violation of an NDA.

“It would be my recommendation that Ms. Manigault Newman pays for the corrective ads/corrective statements outlined above to counteract the long-term adverse effects of information that appeared as a result of Ms. Manigault Newman violating her confidentially agreement,” Rose wrote. “If corrective ads are not placed, voters may continue to hold beliefs about the president as a result of Ms. Manigault Newman’s statements.”

According to the Trump arbitration case, Manigault Newman caused damages to the campaign via assertions in her 2018 book Unhinged, in which she describes Trump making disparaging racist and sexist comments towards black people and women.

However, John Philips, lawyer to Manigault Newman, called Rose’s recommendation “weaponized litigation.” He said that the Trump campaign could not prove they suffered from financial damages by Manigault Newman, as the campaign received over $1 billion in donations.

Despite the expenses detailed in Rose’s request, Jenna Ellis, a Trump campaign legal advisor, said that the document is meant to report damage, not demand contribution – potentially as a legal safeguard. If Manigault Newman were to finance or even participate in ads for Trump, it would count as a campaign contribution, and one that would certainly exceed the legal $2,800 federal limit. In other words, were Manigault Newman to adhere to Rose’s “recommendation” on behalf of the campaign, she and the Trump campaign would both be breaking campaigning laws.