Anthony Scaramucci Vs. Reince Priebus: White House Drama Escalates
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s new communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, last night sent out a tweet in which he railed against the “felony” leak of his financial disclosure form. Scaramucci said he would contact the FBI and Justice Department, and named @Reince45.
Scaramucci seemed to be accusing the White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus, of being the source of the leak.
Then Scaramucci deleted the tweet, and in a new tweet said that assumption was “wrong!” “Tweet was a public notice to all leakers that all Sr Admin officials are helping to end illegal leaks,” he wrote.
But on Thursday morning, Scaramucci again called out Priebus. He called in to CNN’s “New Day” with Chris Cuomo to again suggest that Priebus may be the leaker.
“If you want to talk about the chief of staff, we have had odds, we have had differences,” Scaramucci said. “When I said we were brothers from the podium, that is because we are rough on each other. Some brothers are like Cain and Abel. Other brothers can fight with each other and get along. I don’t know if this is repairable or not, that will be up to the president. But he is the chief of staff. He is responsible for understanding and uncovering and helping me do that inside the White House, which is why I put that tweet out last night.”
“If Reince wants to explain he’s not a leaker, let him do that,” he added.
For the record, Scaramucci’s financial disclosure form is a publicly available document.
Scaramucci may be trying to play the heavy before he even officially starts his job, but he’s also game, like his boss, to publicly escalate Trump team feuds. Witness the ongoing drama of Trump’s daily attacks on Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and Sessions’ refusal to resign.
Many have called Trump’s first six months the reality show presidency. But, as NBC News’s Peter Alexander said on Thursday, lately has more the feel of “Game of Thrones.”
On that note, Scaramucci’s interview with Cuomo left little doubt of the suspicious atmosphere of the West Wing.
“There are people inside the administration that think it is their job to save America from this president, OK?” he said.
A story in Politico on Wednesday apparently triggered Scaramucci’s ire. It reported that Scaramucci still stands to profit from his stake in SkyBridge Capital as he takes his new post. The reporter who wrote the story, Lorraine Woellert, also noted that the disclosure forms are publicly available.
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