Trump administration official and former “Apprentice” contestant Omarosa Manigault “physically intimidated” a White House reporter during a heated argument outside the Oval Office that could have warranted intervention by the Secret Service, according to a report.
“She stood right in my face like she was going to hit me,” April Ryan, a reporter for the American Urban Radio Networks, told the Washington Post on Monday. “I said, ‘You better back up.’ … She thought I would be bullied. I won’t be.”
Ryan said the blowup with Manigault, who is now a communications official in the White House, happened in the West Wing on Feb. 8 when Manigault told her she was one of several African-American reporters who were the subject of “dossiers” on file at the White House.
“It’s just ugly. She’s trying to harm my integrity and my career. I’ve been [covering the White House] for 20 years. I plan to be here for the next 20 years. You don’t mess with someone’s livelihood,” Ryan told the newspaper, which cited several witnesses to the squabble.
Ryan called Manigault’s actions “Secret Serviceable,” or requiring law enforcement intervention.
In a statement late Monday, Manigault said only, “My comment: Fake news!”
Ryan and Manigault, once friends, have been feuding feuding since October, according to the report, when the former reality TV star sent Ryan emails asking if she was on the payroll of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
Trump appointed Manigault director of communications for the White House Office of Public Liaison in January.
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