Scaramucci Looks to Purge White House Staff, Reince Priebus in Crosshairs

There are few things Trump hates more than leaks. Generally speaking, he tends to find leaks more offensive than the actual information they contain. But despite his Twitter-enabled rage on the subject, the leaks just keep coming. It’s almost like the big man with a penchant for attacking everybody and wallowing in scandal is finding it difficult to inspire loyalty. Weird.

It’s very sad that Republicans, even some that were carried over the line on my back, do very little to protect their President.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 23, 2017

So to remedy what is likely the smallest problem facing his broken administration, Trump has given new communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, the power to do whatever necessary to excise those leaks, per a Washington Post report. What that practically looks like is Scaramucci has reportedly been sitting down for one-on-ones with aides to root out who isn’t doing enough to support the president. Among his likely targets? Reince Priebus:

In consultation with confidants inside and outside the administration, Scaramucci has begun undertaking an audit of the White House’s dozens of press and communications staffers. He is meeting one-on-one with aides in an effort to understand each person’s contributions and weed out those he determines are not working hard enough to defend the president through the crises besieging the White House, according to several of the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal issues.

The potential shake-up has exacerbated long-simmering tensions between Scaramucci and chief of staff Reince Priebus, according to people familiar with the dynamic, despite the outward, if forced, public displays of unity between the two men.

Scaramucci took to Fox News on Sunday to warn that, “We’ve got to get the leaks stopped. If we don’t get the leaks stopped — I am a businessperson, and so I will take dramatic action to stop those leaks.”

It’s not clear how being a businessperson makes you more or less likely to take dramatic action, but yeah go for it. The effort is expected to be quick-moving, and heads will likely start rolling in a few days.