Scaramucci Is Cool With ‘Leaks to Shape Policy’ Not ‘Backstabbing, Palace Intrigue’ Leaks
As Anthony Scaramucci and CNN’s Chris Cuomo continued their extensive interview this morning, the conversation intensified when they started talking about how leakers are sabotaging the White House.
After the White House communications director finished his earlier soliloquy about leaks and disloyalty in the White House, Cuomo pushed him over his tweets where he seemed to implicate Reince Priebus as a leaker. Cuomo acknowledged how Scaramucci previously told reporters that he doesn’t have a problem with Priebus, but the CNN anchor wondered whether that was a “hollow” denial considering the latest developments.
Scaramucci likened it to a business situation where a manager has to deal with paranoia and backstabbing by addressing under-confidence within a company. He also blasted leakers for holding the notion that they have to protect America from President Trump instead of bringing the administration’s agenda to fruition.
Cuomo reacted by spelling out the difference between leaking national security details and leaking information about the activities and machinations of the White House. Scaramucci and Cuomo ended up sparring over that point as the communications director insisted he was “focused on what hurts the institution of the president and the president himself.”
“I understand we have to leak things to reporters to help shape policy or try to balloon things or do tests on ideas or people for different jobs. I’m talking about nefarious, unnecessary, backstabbing, palace intrigue-like leaks. That’s what I’m talking about.”
When Cuomo noted how Trump has attacked leakers to avoid discussing the substance they revealed, Scaramucci criticized him for bringing the discussion back to the ongoing investigations into Russia. Cuomo noted Russia’s relevance to the topic at hand, but Scaramucci snapped back about how there were bigger matters going on than the Russia “nonsense.”
Watch above, via CNN.
[Image via screengrab]
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