As former White House staffer Omarosa Manigault Newman continues to release the secret tapes she recorded of conversations while working in the White House, officials are cracking down even further on the use of cellphones in the West Wing.
According to two administration officials who spoke to CNN, the latest change involves the proximity of cellphones to the Situation Room. While staffers were already required to leave their personal phones in lockers outside of the West Wing, aides could keep their government issued cellphones on them throughout most of the work day and were only required to put their government phones in a locker outside the entrance to the Situation Room upon entering.
Now, before being admitted to that secure area, staffers have to either leave their government cellphones at their office desk or alongside their personal phone in the lockers near the entrance to the West Wing, according to CNN.
The change was reportedly made in direct response to Manigault Newman’s recording of Chief of Staff John Kelly firing her, a conversation that took place inside the Situation Room.
The phone policy clampdown comes during a time of heightened paranoia within the White House, following the publication of an anonymous anti-Trump op-ed in the New York Times penned by a White House official and the release of Bob Woodward’s new book, which is packed with tell-all tales from current and former staffers.
Manigault Newman’s recordings have only added to the steady stream of revelations about the inner workings of a chaotic White House. On Monday, she released two new tapes of Trump. In one, he crashed a White House communications department meeting to rant about Hillary Clinton and Russia. In another, he’s heard making a joke about terrorism as he discussed the details of a deadly attack on U.S. soldiers in Niger.