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Anthony Scaramucci Called Me to Rant About White House Leakers, Reince Priebus, and Steve Bannon
http://www.newyorker.com/news/ryan-lizza/anthony-scaramucci-called-me-to-unload-about-white-house-leakers-reince-priebus-and-steve-bannonRyan Lizza
On Wednesday night, I received a phone call from Anthony Scaramucci, the new White House communications director. He wasnt happy. Earlier in the night, Id tweeted, citing a senior White House official, that Scaramucci was having dinner at the White House with President Trump, the First Lady, Sean Hannity, and the former Fox News executive Bill Shine. It was an interesting group, and raised some questions. Was Trump getting strategic advice from Hannity? Was he considering hiring Shine? But Scaramucci had his own questionfor me.
Who leaked that to you? he asked. I said I couldnt give him that information. He responded by threatening to fire the entire White House communications staff. What Im going to do is, I will eliminate everyone in the comms team and well start over, he said. I laughed, not sure if he really believed that such a threat would convince a journalist to reveal a source. He continued to press me and complain about the staff hes inherited in his new job. I ask these guys not to leak anything and they cant help themselves, he said. Youre an American citizen, this is a major catastrophe for the American country. So Im asking you as an American patriot to give me a sense of who leaked it.
In Scaramuccis view, the fact that word of the dinner had reached a reporter was evidence that his rivals in the West Wing, particularly Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff, were plotting against him. While they have publicly maintained that there is no bad blood between them, Scaramucci and Priebus have been feuding for months. After the election, Trump asked Scaramucci to join his Administration, and Scaramucci sold his company, SkyBridge Capital, in anticipation of taking on a senior role. But Priebus didnt want him in the White House, and successfully blocked him for being appointed to a job until last week, when Trump offered him the communications job over Priebuss vehement objections. In response to Scaramuccis appointment, Sean Spicer, an ally of Priebuss, resigned his position as press secretary. And in an additional slight to Priebus, the White Houses official announcement of Scaramuccis hiring noted that he would report directly to the President, rather than to the chief of staff.
Scaramuccis first public appearance as communications director was a slick and conciliatory performance at the lectern in the White House briefing room last Friday. He suggested it was time for the White House to turn a page. But since then, he has become obsessed with leaks and threatened to fire staffers if he discovers that they have given unauthorized information to reporters. Michael Short, a White House press aide considered close to Priebus, resigned on Tuesday after Scaramucci publicly spoke about firing him. Meanwhile, several damaging stories about Scaramucci have appeared in the press, and he blamed Priebus for most of them. Now, he wanted to know whom I had been talking to about his dinner with the President. Scaramucci, who initiated the call, did not ask for the conversation to be off the record or on background.
Is it an assistant to the President? he asked. I again told him I couldnt say. O.K., Im going to fire every one of them, and then you havent protected anybody, so the entire place will be fired over the next two weeks.
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Anthony Scaramucci Called Me to Rant About White House Leakers, Reince Priebus, and Steve Bannon (Original Post)
swag
Jul 2017
OP
LisaM
(27,794 posts)1. What the deuce?
And this was before the whackadoodle "Italian to Italian" call to Chris Cuomo?
Is Scaramucci obsessed with CNN?
C_U_L8R
(44,988 posts)2. How to make friends an influence people.
I think it's a little late for this fella
Alice11111
(5,730 posts)3. Boy, does he fit right in in w La Familia Trump...an Enabler in Chief
TNLib
(1,819 posts)4. I bet Spicer is so happy he quit.
What a mess.
LisaM
(27,794 posts)6. I know - he's probably sleeping in 36-hour stretches.
Can you imagine the relief of waking up each day knowing you don't have to back to work at this White House?
dalton99a
(81,403 posts)12. No doubt.
TeapotInATempest
(804 posts)5. These people are all nuts.
That is all.
Ive called the F.B.I. and the Department of Justice, he told me.
Are you serious? I asked.
The swamp will not defeat him, he said, breaking into the third person. Theyre trying to resist me, but its not going to work. Ive done nothing wrong on my financial disclosures, so theyre going to have to go fuck themselves.
Scaramucci also told me that, unlike other senior officials, he had no interest in media attention. Im not Steve Bannon, Im not trying to suck my own cock, he said, speaking of Trumps chief strategist. Im not trying to build my own brand off the fucking strength of the President. Im here to serve the country. (Bannon declined to comment.)
Are you serious? I asked.
The swamp will not defeat him, he said, breaking into the third person. Theyre trying to resist me, but its not going to work. Ive done nothing wrong on my financial disclosures, so theyre going to have to go fuck themselves.
Scaramucci also told me that, unlike other senior officials, he had no interest in media attention. Im not Steve Bannon, Im not trying to suck my own cock, he said, speaking of Trumps chief strategist. Im not trying to build my own brand off the fucking strength of the President. Im here to serve the country. (Bannon declined to comment.)
GeoWilliam750
(2,521 posts)8. Goodness gracious
And this is the spokesman of the President of the United States
BigmanPigman
(51,567 posts)9. He reminds me of Milo, trying to stir things up any way he can,
The fake prez loves it!
oxbow
(2,034 posts)10. Why do these guys refer to themselves in the 3rd person?
He says "the mooch" or "himself" instead, in this conversation. It reminds me of when the Don refers to himself as "the president"...
neeksgeek
(1,214 posts)11. Seriously, this sounds like a rough draft of Goodfellas! nt