Following yet another leak, this time of aide Kelly Sadler’s comment that Democrat senator John McCain’s opinion of a new CIA appointment didn’t count because he “is dying anyway”, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders had called a briefing to tell off staff – which was quickly leaked to news site Axios by five separate staffers.
“I am sure this conversation is going to leak, too,” she reportedly said. “And that’s just disgusting.”
Former journalists and politicians have noted Trump’s government has had more leaks to the press than any other previous administration.
In January, Chief of Staff John Kelly even banned personal phones and smart watches from the West Wing, but it hasn’t stopped the steady flow of insider information including that former secretary of state Rex Tillerson called Trump a “moron” and Trump referred to some third world nations as “s..thole” countries.
Leakers have told Axios they have several reasons for passing on information: to take down a rival; to make sure there’s an accurate record of what goes on in the White House; to protest against a policy decision; and simply “frustration with incompetent or tone-deaf leadership”.
That really says it all.
