Donald Trump’s campaign has been ordered to pay his former aide Omarosa Manigault Newman more than $1.3m in legal fees, closing a case over her alleged violation of a non-disclosure agreement.
Celebrating the ruling, Manigault Newman compared herself to David and the former president to Goliath.
John M Phillips, an attorney for Manigault Newman, tweeted pictures of the ruling by a court arbitrator, Andrew Brown. The total due to be paid by the Trump campaign was $1,310,873.48.
Phillips wrote: “$1.3m attorney fee and cost order against the Trump campaign issued! (Highest known prevailing party attorney fee assessment against a president or presidential campaign). Huge thanks to Omarosa for believing in us during this three-year ordeal of weaponized litigation.”
Phillips also tweeted a picture with Manigault Newman, both smiling and pointing to copies of the ruling.
$1.3 Million Attorney Fee and Cost Order Against the Trump Campaign Issued! (Highest known prevailing party attorney fee assessment against a President or Presidential Campaign). Huge thanks to @OMAROSA for believing in us during this three year ordeal of weaponized litigation. pic.twitter.com/iQ4j6Amfxa
— John M. Phillips (@JohnPhillips) April 20, 2022
Manigault Newman rose to fame as a contestant on The Apprentice, Trump’s NBC reality TV series, before becoming his political aide and working in the White House.
Fired from that role, in 2018 she published a tell-all memoir, Unhinged: An Insider’s Account of the Trump White House. The book contained explosive claims including that the then president was a “racist” who used the N-word repeatedly.
In its review, the Guardian said that though the book was “light on policy”, it had “all the ingredients of a great novel; power, sex, race and money”.
Manigault Newman also released audio recordings of Trump officials.
Trump sued her for violating a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA. He lost the case in September 2021.
The New York Times said Phillips provided it a copy of the ruling in which the arbitrator, Brown, wrote that Manigault Newman “was defending herself in a claim which was extensively litigated for more than three years, against an opponent who undoubtedly commanded far greater resources”.
Trump did not immediately comment.
Manigault Newman tweeted: “First year law student vs [the 45th president’s] entire legal team. (David vs Goliath) … Now pardon me as I get back to studying for my contract law final exam.”
Trump faces extensive legal woes elsewhere, including investigations of his business affairs and of his attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat by Joe Biden.
He has lost other cases over NDAs, including one involving a former campaign worker who said Trump forcibly kissed her.
Also on Wednesday, Hillary Clinton, Trump’s opponent in 2016, filed a motion seeking the dismissal of a lawsuit in which Trump accuses her of a racketeering conspiracy in connection with that election.
Calling the suit “a fundraising tool, a press release or a list of political grievances”, a lawyer for Clinton, David Kendall, said it should be “dismissed with prejudice”.
