Omarosa has made headlines around the country with her claims that there is a tape of Donald Trump using the N- word. The claim has caused a media firestorm and the White House has been hounded by questions about the allegation’s validity for days.
At least one fact check, however, by a major insider in Trump-world has gone virtually unnoticed. This week, a longtime Trump-ally, administration official and personal friend of Omarosa, Lynne Patton, broke her silence on the alleged N-Word tape.
Many of you have asked me why I’ve been so quiet these past few days.
Trust me, it’s about to get loud as a MF.#TheTape#TheTimeline#TheTexts#StayTuned pic.twitter.com/FhA7HvhH1W
— Lynne Patton (@LynnePatton) August 13, 2018
Patton released a lengthy statement fact checking the claims made by Omarosa. In the document titled “Official Statement on Omarosa Manigault-Newman” Patton claims that Omarosa contacted her upon her termination at the White House claiming that a former producer on ‘The Apprentice,’ Bill Pruitt, had played her a recording of the president using the slur for her. Patton said she spoke with the producer who flatly denied having such a tape. Patton went on to call the claim of the president using the N-Word a “baseless accusation and imaginary audio tape, as falsely claimed by a former friend.”
“Like countless other minorities and women, the President has given me the opportunity of a lifetime to rise up through the ranks of The Trump Organization and now proudly serve this country,” Patton said, “Therefore, unless directed otherwise, this will be my only statement on this baseless accusation and imaginary audio tape, as falsely claimed by a former friend.”
Patton’s full letter:
White House leadership, both past and present, can confirm that I was the closest confidante & friend to Ms. Manigault-Newman during her tenure at the White House, Transition and Campaign – texting and speaking multiple times per day.
To that end, Omarosa attempted to contact me just two days ago, but I refused to accept her call.
Like Ms. Manigault-Newman, I have also known and worked for both the President and his family for over a decade and am confident that they would collectively confirm that I know them far better than she.
To be clear, at no time did I participate in a conference call with Katrina Pierson advising me, Jason Miller and Omarosa Manigault-Newman that Frank Luntz had heard President Donald J. Trump use a derogatory racial term – a claim that Luntz himself has also denied.
What I can confirm is the following:
On December 12, 2017, at approximately 11:30PM (EST) – a date I now know to be the evening Omarosa was relieved of her official duties by General Kelly – I received a telephone call from her informing me that she had personally heard a second-hand recording of President Trump using the “N-word” in a derogatory fashion.
She proceeded to tell me the full name of the individual who played this second-hand tape for her, from whom the primary audio tape had originated, as well as the specific context of the President’s usage of this term and to whom the derogatory term was allegedly directed.
Omarosa also proceeded to inform me that she had officially submitted her resignation to General Kelly and that I should promptly do the same before the audio surfaced.
The next morning, I immediately notified senior communications officials and a Trump family member of the same, only to discover the true nature of her departure was termination.
Today, the individual who Omarosa confirmed to me as having played the second-hand audio recording to her last year confirmed that they have no tape, never had possession of a tape, never claimed to have possession of a tape and never played such a tape for Ms. Manigault-Newman.
Tonight, on the MSNBC program, Hardball, Omarosa revealed to the general public what she had told me last December: That former Apprentice producer, Bill Pruitt, was the original source of the “N-word” tape.
Bill Pruitt is a mutual friend.
I just spoke to Bill Pruitt tonight before releasing this statement.
He confirmed to me (before Hardball had even gone off the air) that he does NOT have an audio tape of President Trump using the “N-word” and has NEVER had an audio tape of President Trump using the “N-word.” Period.
Suffice it to say that the past few weeks have been wrought with disappointment, immense sadness, anger and outright disgust.
Based upon her conflicting accounts and the newfound information revealed in my statement, it should be abundantly clear to everyone that not only is her book a complete work of fiction, but that the existence of this elusive “N-word” tape is a figment of her imagination and merely a destructive tool of manipulation applied only when it best serves her interests.
Like countless other minorities and women, the President has given me the opportunity of a lifetime to rise up through the ranks of The Trump Organization and now proudly serve this country.
Therefore, unless directed otherwise, this will be my only statement on this baseless accusation and imaginary audio tape, as falsely claimed by a former friend.
My primary and sole focus remains the low-income and public housing residents of New York & New Jersey, as the President would expect it to be — and as the President has hired me to do.”