White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci said Thursday that he and President Trump have “a very, very good idea of who the senior leakers are.”
“What the president and I would tell everybody is that we have a very, very good idea of who the leakers are, who the senior leakers are in the White House,” Mr. Scaramucci said on CNN.
Mr. Scaramucci said he and Mr. Trump and working with the rest of the team to “out” the leakers, not just at the White House, but those leaking national security information.
“What I also want to say is that we’re working together, the president and myself, and other members of his team and law enforcement to undercut and undercover, or out if you will, the leakers in the entire country,” he said.
Mr. Scaramucci said some of the leaks regarding national security are “treasonous.”
“The White House leaks are small potatoes relative to things going on with leaking things about Syria or North Korea, or leaking things about Iraq. Those types of things are so treasonous that 150 years ago, people would have actually been hung for those types of leaks,” he said.
Mr. Scaramucci also reacted to a tweet he posted and since deleted late Wednesday that implied White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus might be one of the leakers.
“When I put out the tweet and I put Reince’s name in the tweet, [journalists are] all making the assumption that it’s him because journalists know who the leakers are. So if Reince wants to explain that he’s not a leaker, let him do that,” he added.
Mr. Scaramucci also compared his relationship to Mr. Priebus and some on the staff to the biblical story of Cain and Abel, the sons of Adam and Eve. Cain murdered Abel after God favored Abel’s sacrifice over his.
“When I said we were brothers from the podium that’s because we’re rough on each other. Some brothers are like Cain and Abel. Other brothers can fight with each other and then get along. I don’t know if this is reparable or not. That will be up to the president,” Mr. Scaramucci said.
Kellyanne Conway, senior counselor to the president, said on Fox News that she was unaware of whether Mr. Priebus was a leaker, but reiterate that leakers will be caught.
“I think leakers are easier to figure out than they may think. This West Wing is a very small place,” she said. “I will say I’m the jerk who hired a chief of staff right? Cause I thought we were supposed to work on policy, not three press or comms assistants, because we’re not here to curate our images.”
Mr. Scaramucci’s frustration with the leaks was made apparent Wednesday night when tweeting about his own financial disclosures.
“In light of the leak of my financial disclosure info which is a felony, I will be contacting @FBI and the @JusticeDept #swamp @Reince45,” Mr. Scaramucci tweeted before deleting the post.
He denied that the mention of Mr. Priebus’ Twitter handle was a veiled threat specifically to the chief of staff.
“Wrong! Tweet was public notice to leakers that all Sr Adm officials are helping to end illegal leaks. @Reince45,” Mr. Scaramucci tweeted in a follow-up.
Department of Justice Spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said in a statement that leaks have been an increasing problem.
“We agree with Anthony that these staggering number of leaks are undermining the ability of our government to function and to protect this country,” she said.
Ms. Flores added that the DOJ will “seek to put some people in jail” if a legal case can be made.
Politico published an article on Mr. Scaramucci’s publicly available financial disclosure forms earlier Wednesday, showing he has assets up to $85 million with another $5 million in salary from his stake in SkyBridge Capital, which he sold earlier this year.
Wrong! Tweet was public notice to leakers that all Sr Adm officials are helping to end illegal leaks. @Reince45 pic.twitter.com/AB0reseuX1
— Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) July 27, 2017
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.