White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci is barely one week in his post and he has already created an enemy. The former Wall Street financier accused Chief of Staff Reince Priebus of leaking to the press his financial disclosure report.
He said what Priebus did is a felony. In a tweet, Scaramucci threatened to contact the FBI and the Justice Department. He was reacting to a report by Politico that his financial disclosure form, which Scaramucci filed when he was still with the Export-Import Bank in early 2017, was leaked allegedly by Priebus.
Publicly available
The Washington Post, however, noted that the document which Scaramucci referred to is a government form that specifies it is available to the public upon request. The giveaway that he suspected Priebus of being the source of the Leak is the chief of staff’s Twitter handle @Reince45 was part of the tweet after the hashtag #swamp.
The new White House official eventually deleted the tweet and backtracked a bit when he told CNN that he tagged Priebus in his deleted tweet because it is the job of the chief of staff to understand and uncover who are the sources of leaks in the White House. He then shifted the blame on New Yorker journalist Ryan Lizza who tweeted on late Wednesday night that Scaramucci is seeking the FBI’s help in probing Priebus for the alleged leak.
The New York Daily News cited a speculation to explain the war between the two White House officials. Scaramucci is allegedly eyeing the chief of staff position of Priebus. The chief of staff had previously been the object of hate by other White House staff like counselor Kellyanne Conway who mocked Priebus during a party in Washington.
Cain and Abel
One of Scaramucci’s aims as communications director is to remove the sources of leaks in the White House. He had threatened to fire his staff. He alluded to the biblical characters of siblings Cain and Abel to describe his brotherly relationship with Priebus. Cain murdered Abel out of jealousy.
With the colorful character of Scaramucci, “Saturday Night Live” is reportedly planning to create a Scaramucci character with actor Mario Cantone impersonating the communications director, The New York Daily News reported.
Cantone was seen in Season 3 of “Sex and the City” until the 2004 finale of the TV series. The loss of Melissa McCarthy – who impersonated resigned Press Secretary Sean Spicer – is Cantone’s career gain.
