Exclusive: Trump aides bid to plug leaks creates unease among some civil servants
By Arshad Mohammed, Jonathan Landay and Warren Strobel | WASHINGTON
President Donald Trump's Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin used his first senior staff meeting last month to tell his new aides he would not tolerate leaks to the news media, sources familiar with the matter said.
Current and former officials said that in a departure from past practice, access to a classified computer system at the White House has been tightened by political appointees to prevent professional staffers from seeing memos being prepared for the new president.
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'CLIMATE OF INTIMIDATION'
At the State Department, the fear of getting caught in a leak investigation or running afoul of White House positions is so acute that some officials will discuss issues only face-to-face rather than use phones, email, texts or other messaging applications, two State Department officials said.
"There is a climate of intimidation, not just about talking to reporters, but also about communicating with colleagues," said one official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-secrecy-exclusive-idUSKBN16A0GD