Donald Trump Brings Up Martha Stewart's Stock Scandal in TV Battle  2/23/06

Property tycoon Donald Trump has accused Martha Stewart of lying about her defunct Apprentice spin-off, comparing her lies to her suspicious stock sale conviction.

After The Apprentice: Martha Stewart - Stewart's spin-off of Trump's original hit reality TV show - was cancelled in November (05) following poor ratings, the cookery queen claimed she was supposed to fire Trump from his show at the beginning of the series, so she could capitalize on his viewership.

However, Trump fired back asking Stewart to take responsibility for the failure of her show and now has written a letter, bringing her criminal past into the argument.

The lifestyle guru spent five months in a West Virginia prison and then a further six months under house arrest last year (05) following her conviction of lying to federal investigators about a suspicious sale of her ImClone shares.

Trump writes, "Essentially, you made this firing up just as you made up your sell order of ImClone. The only difference is - that was more obvious.

"Putting your show on the air was a mistake for everybody - especially NBC.

"Your performance was terrible in that the show lacked mood, temperament and just about everything else a show needs for success."

A shocked Stewart responds, "The letter is so mean-spirited and reckless that I almost can't believe my longtime friend Donald Trump wrote it."