Despite the official story that reality show mainstay Omarosa Manigault resigned from her White House post of her own volition “to pursue other opportunities,” details of a reportedly acrimonious dismissal keep leaking months after the fact. Following the Apprentice villain’s dramatic exit in early December, American Urban Radio Networks reporter April Ryan reported that Omarosa was physically dragged from the premises after getting the hook from Chief of Staff John Kelly, who was said to have been planning on firing her for months. A Politico article detailing Kelly’s increasingly tenuous position in the Trump administration now reports that Omarosa had been let go after abusing White House car service privileges. From Politico:
And in December, he dismissed the former director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison, Omarosa Manigault, who had been using the White House car service — known as “CARPET” — as an office pickup and drop-off service, something strictly forbidden by the federal government, according to three administration officials.
After Kelly dismissed her, Manigault tried to storm the White House residence to appeal to Trump, according to one of the officials, accidentally tripping an electronic Secret Service wire that monitors entry and egress from the residence.
Abusing car service privileges is certainly a fireable offense, especially when it is paid for with taxpayer dollars. However, commandeering a car to drop off packages seems almost negligible compared to the shameless abuse of government resources committed by other senior Trump advisers. Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price spent more than $1 million in public funds commandeering private planes and military jets for travel that should have been booked on commercial flights. He eventually resigned over the scandal, but only after news of his habit went public. Although Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and wife Louise Linton’s use of a private jet for a day trip to Kentucky in August wasn’t technically illegal, the Treasury Departments Office Of Inspector General said that Mnuchin needs to demonstrate why the trip is necessary before hitching a luxury ride on the taxpayers’ dime.
You could make the argument that Omarosa’s entire tenure in Trump’s White House was a grift. In November, the Daily Beast reporter Elaina Plott published a story where she shadowed Omarosa for a day and just found that the former communications director for the Office of Public Liaison spent the day planning her wedding. What she actually contributed to the administration was a mystery, but the same could be said for current White House staffers Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.
In an administration that’s essentially a revolving door when it comes to staff, it’s not a surprise to see Omarosa’s tenure cut short. The reality star’s days were reportedly numbered once Kelly was appointed to bring order to a dysfunctional administration, and she was probably going to get canned whether she made inappropriate use of White House facilities or not. The timing of this particular car service offense going public is a bit suspect in that it surfaced just after the former White House staffer bashed the administration on Big Brother, even if it is delightfully petty.
