Omarosa Manigault Newman files motion to dismiss lawsuit over financial disclosure report

The Justice Department sued Newman in June for "knowingly and willfully" failing to file the form after she was fired in late 2017.

In the civil complaint, DOJ attorneys alleged that Newman had been told about the form before she left her position and ignored multiple email requests for it in the weeks after her departure.

In the motion filed Wednesday, Newman's attorney, John Phillips, argued that the complaint "fails to state a cause of action upon which relief can be granted and is due to be dismissed."

Phillips wrote that the reason that Newman was "incapable" of completing her financial disclosure form was because it contained an incorrect termination date and there was "lack of access" to necessary financial records that the White House held.

He claimed that the multiple email requests to Newman were all sent to an unmonitored email address.

The DOJ lawsuit refers to a phone call between Newman and White House ethics attorney Stefan Passantino as proof that Newman was informed about her requirement to file the financial disclosure report.

According to the motion, which includes a log of the call, Newman had informed Passantino about the date error on her form, and Passantino said he would get "find out about what is the story on the dates" and report back to her.

Passantino never "reported back" to Newman about the date discrepancy, the motion says.

The defense also provided the court with a taped copy of that phone call from March 2018 between Newman and Passantino.

"The facts of this case show that Ms. Manigault Newman has desired to complete this financial disclosure form from the beginning," Phillips wrote.

Newman was a former reality star on President Donald Trump's show "The Apprentice" and worked alongside him for over a decade before she took up a role in the White House.

She served as director of communications in the Office of Public Liaison for about a year until she was forced out by then-chief of staff John Kelly.

Then, in a stunning about-face for a former top aide, Newman wrote a tell-all book -- that was mostly unverifiable -- about her West Wing tenure, featuring an unflattering portrayal of Trump as a racist, lewd and mentally unhinged leader.

Newman also released secret recordings she made of Kelly firing her in the White House Situation Room and Trump calling her the day after, and of Trump's daughter-in-law and 2020 senior campaign aide Lara Trump discussing a potential salary if she were to rejoin the reelection efforts.