Former President Donald Trump’s campaign was ordered to pay former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman nearly $1.3 million in legal fees.
Her attorney, John Phillips, confirmed the ruling as part of the case in which Newman was accused of violating a nondisclosure agreement she signed while working for Trump’s campaign in 2016 by writing her tell-all book Unhinged.
According to The Washington Examiner:
“Respondent was defending herself in a claim which was extensively litigated for more than three years, against an opponent who undoubtedly commanded far greater resources than did respondent,” the arbitrator said.
The award “hopefully will send a message that weaponized litigation will not be tolerated and empower other lawyers to stand up and fight,” Phillips said, according to the New York Times.
Newman, who was a star on Trump’s Apprentice reality TV show, took part in his 2016 campaign and then joined the Trump administration in 2017 as the director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison. She was fired late in 2017 and came out with her book, as well as recordings, the following year. Trump lost the arbitration case in New York in September.
But it hasn’t been all victories for Newman. She was ordered to pay a $61,585 fine in March 2022 for not complying with financial disclosure requirements after being fired from the White House.
