TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Secret tapes. Nondisclosure agreements. A lot of name calling. The revelations surrounding Omarosa Manigault Newman’s new memoir, and the ensuing fallout, are underscoring a level of dysfunction many now see as just part of life under President Donald Trump. On Monday [8-13-18], the former senior aide revealed a recording she’d made of the President phoning her on the day after she was fired. Earlier, Manigault Newman released a tape of chief of staff John Kelly doing the firing in the White House Situation Room. Neither contained outwardly embarrassing language. But the tapes’ mere existence confirmed a longstanding reality: in Trump’s White House, there are few norms or expectations of decorum that cannot be shattered. Now, aides are wondering who else might be using a recording device to capture audio from private conversations. And they are girding for Manigault Newman to release more of her tapes, which she has teased at in a string of television interviews…the tapes have only deepened a pre-existing sense of paranoia among Trump staffers, according to senior administration officials, fueling an underlying suspicion that everyone inside the West Wing is out for themselves. The White House has no way of knowing how many tapes Manigault Newman might have, the official said, even as they explore legal avenues for preventing their release and punishing her for making them. The official declined to specify what specific legal steps were being considered.”
–Kevin Liptak, “White House paranoia deepens after Omarosa tapes,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, August 13, 2018 5:07 pm