The Omarosa uproar marks a reprise of unique Trump themes
Most of the subplots in this public drama surrounding former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman previously emerged over the past two years at the White House and at Trump Tower.
Abandoned trust, obvious backbiting, churlish behavior, personal vitriol, security concerns and wider societal strife all have a way of afflicting this Oval Office.
Here are a half-dozen glaring examples of how past has been prologue in Omarosa-gate:
Broken bonds. White House figures trashed each other in numerous press accounts and in Michael Wolff's book "Fire and Fury." Ex-guru Steve Bannon said President Donald Trump's son and son-in-law wandered into treason with Russia during the campaign.
In the fallout, Trump ended up belittling Bannon's role and saying he had "lost his mind." Now the president is calling the alienated Omarosa nothing more than a lowlife and a dog. He even drags through the mud those he hasn't fired. This week he suggested his appointee Jeff Sessions isn't a "real" attorney general.
Secret audio. Trump falsely accused predecessor President Barack Obama of wiretapping him during the 2016 campaign. But the only recordings of Trump's voice that have shaped the public discourse turn out to have come from inside his own sphere of influence. Examples: His misogyny on the studio-stored "Access Hollywood" tapes and conversations with lawyer Michael Cohen recorded by Cohen. This week, Omarosa has been releasing audio of her talks with ex-colleagues.
Ducking confrontations. Trump told Secretary of State Rex Tillerson of his firing in a public Twitter announcement that Mike Pompeo would take the job. James Comey learned of his firing while at the FBI field office in Los Angeles from a broadcast report.
After chief of staff John Kelly dumped Omarosa, she recorded Trump telling her: "Nobody even told me about it. … You know they run a big operation, but I didn't know it. I didn't know that. Goddamn it. I don't love you leaving at all." Later, once she denounced him and promoted her tell-all book, he called her a "crying lowlife."
Security questions. The White House Situation Room is a team area for handling crises, so the question arose as to why, according to Omarosa, Kelly fired her there. Previously, Trump's blurting of Israeli intelligence involving plane bombs to Russian officials, as well as leaks of transcripts of the president's 2017 conversation with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull also raised issues.
Race issues. Omarosa, his top African-American adviser, now stirs the pot over old (and still unproved) rumors he was recorded using the N-word in private — and openly describes her boss dating back to their TV days as a bigot and racist.
This comes one year after even close advisers expressed alarm at Trump's equivocal response to the racially charged violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. The background includes public declamations of Mexicans as rapists, "shithole countries" and "son-of-a-bitch" athletes kneeling in protest over police shootings.
Hush agreements. A private nondisclosure agreement sparked the furor over Trump's alleged dalliances with and payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels years ago. And it has long been suspected that nondisclosure agreements were signed by public employees in the White House under Trump, which reportedly was not the practice in past administrations. Now the famously litigious president has filed an arbitration action against Omarosa, charging her book violates a 2016 campaign NDA.
These are the themes.
Expect more of the same.
Dan Janison is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
