*By Jacqueline Corba and Carlo Versano* Former Trump aide Omarosa Manigault Newman told Cheddar Monday that she "started to see things that concerned me and alarmed me" in the Trump White House. That's why she surreptitiously recorded an untold number of conversations she both had and overheard. She wouldn't comment on how she taped the president, citing ongoing arbitration with Trump campaign lawyers. But the most recently released recording, [which she played Monday morning](https://twitter.com/TheView/status/1039184332919730176) on ABC's "The View", consisted mostly of a discussion between Trump and Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders which involved Hillary Clinton and the so-called Steele dossier. In the audio file, which was supposedly recorded in October 2017, Trump claims Clinton's campaign paid $9 million for a "phony report" that detailed collusion between his campaign and Russia. According to Manigault Newman, Trump vastly underestimates "the depth and the breadth" of the special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation on Russia and wishes she "rang the alarm" on the president's misconduct earlier. "If you discover that your friend is an arsonist, you gotta stop giving them matches," she said. "Unfortunately, I was a co-conspirator in doing that, and I don't want to be a part of that anymore." Manigault Newman gained some notoriety as a contestant on the inaugural season of "The Apprentice" and parlayed her 15 minutes into a reality-show career before joining the Trump administration as a director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison. She was fired from her post last December after about a year on the job. Lately, she's been on a weeks-long publicity tour for a new book, "Unhinged," in which she calls the president unfit to lead. Manigault Newman said she originally supported Trump, though she became concerned almost immediately after the president took office. "It went straight to his head," she said. "Power is the most addictive drug in the world." The former aide also said she believes she knows the anonymous author of last week's explosive [New York Times op-ed] (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/05/opinion/trump-white-house-anonymous-resistance.html), which also dubbed Trump unfit. By looking at old correspondence and noticing style, tone, and word similarities, Manigault Newman said she thought the essay was penned by Nick Ayers, Vice President Pence's chief of staff. Pence has adamantly [denied](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/pence-confident-no-one-on-his-staff-wrote-nyt-column/2018/09/10/b2d4ca90-b4b0-11e8-ae4f-2c1439c96d79_story.html?utm_term=.9531e8b547e0) having anything to do with the editorial, telling CBS on Sunday that he was "100 percent confident" no one on his staff wrote it. "Unhinged: An Insider's Account of the Trump White House" is available now. For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/what-its-like-to-work-inside-the-trump-white-house).

Share:
More In Politics
Markets Open Higher After Losing Week on Wall Street
Markets were pointing to a higher open to kick off the third trading week in November. It comes as stocks come off a losing week in reaction to October's consumer price index--which showed inflation at its highest point in over 30 years. Ryan Detrick, Chief Market Strategist for LPL Financial joined Wake Up with Cheddar to discuss.
Making Real Changes Through Ballot Measures
We toss around the term "democracy is under attack" quite often without thinking too much, but one organization is actually stepping up to do something about it. The Fairness Project is a group that funds and organizes state ballot measures across the country. It has used ballot initiatives on campaigns aimed at expanding Medicaid, adding more paid time off, and raising minimum wage. It recently launched a new direct democracy campaign to fight back against attempts to make ballot measures inaccessible. Kelly Hall, executive director of The Fairness Project, joined Cheddar Politics to discuss more about the group's efforts to push for economic and social justice, avoiding partisan gridlock.
What Does Biden's $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Bill Mean for Americans - And the Economy?
President Joe Biden signed into law today his landmark $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, and it includes approximately $550 billion in new funding for increased broadband access, improving the power grid, and more. But what does this mean for the American economy, and American workers? Eliza Collins, Politics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss what's included in the bill, which former mayor has been tapped to oversee how the bill is implemented, and how these new infrastructure investments will impact the economy.
COP26 Compromises Could Still Have Climate Deal Fall Short of Emissions Goal
The two-week COP26 climate conference has now ended with leaders reaching a deal, but so far the deal is getting mixed reviews from climate experts across the globe. Chloe Demrovsky, president and CEO of Disaster Recovery Institute International, explains that while the agreement is a step forward in some ways, the world still has much more to work on in order to keep warming to below 2 degrees Celsius.
Load More