New White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci sent out a bizarre tweet (since deleted) on Wednesday night that appeared to call on the FBI to investigate Chief of Staff Reince Priebus as the White House leaker, accusing him of committing a felony. It referenced a financial disclosure which was detailed in a Politico story on Wednesday.
Tweeted Scaramucci: “In light of the leak of my financial disclosure info which is a felony. I will be contacting @FBI and the @TheJusticeDept #swamp @Reince45”
Scaramucci followed it up with a clarification after news outlets reported the assertion that Scaramucci wants Priebus investigated: “Wrong! Tweet was public notice to leakers that all Sr Adm officials are helping to end illegal leaks.”
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
Then, on Thursday morning, another bizarre set of events took place which left CNN New Day anchors Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota’s jaws hanging and further exposed the rift going on inside the White House.
In case there's any ambiguity in his tweet I can confirm that Scaramucci wants the FBI to investigate Reince for leaking.
— Ryan Lizza (@RyanLizza) July 27, 2017
New Yorker reporter Ryan Lizza called in and confirmed that Scaramucci had in fact called on the FBI to investigate Priebus, which prompted a call in to the show from Scaramucci himself.
And although Scaramucci suggested that Priebus is the leaker (“the fish stinks from the head”) he claimed that he was not accusing Priebus of being the leaker:
“I am not. I am saying senior officials are working on this together….When the journalists who actually know who the leakers are – like Ryan Lizza – they know the leakers. Jonathan Swain at Axios. These guys know who the leakers are. I respect them for not telling me because I understand and respect journalists for integrity. When I put out a tweet and I put Reince’s name in a tweet, they’re all make the assumption that it’s him because journalists know who the leakers are. So if Reince wants to explain he’s not a leaker, let him do that. But let me tell you about myself. I’m a straight shooter and I’ll go right to the heart of the matter.”
Watch:
Also if you think Mooch-Reince feud playing out live on CNN angers POTUS, think again. Trump loves drama and loyalty rivalries.
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) July 27, 2017
Mooch said he was talking to POTUS before he called! It was sanctioned. https://t.co/lnFAuDWDvg
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) July 27, 2017
