233159
231186

World  

'The whole thing stinks'

President Donald Trump's new communications chief shoved the behind-the-scenes drama at the White House onto centre stage Thursday, daring Trump's chief of staff to publicly deny he's a "leaker" and exposing the West Wing as a hotbed of internal rifts and conspiracy theories.

Language pouring out of the mansion sounded more like a mobster movie than a seat of presidential stability.

In a pull-no-punches, impromptu CNN interview that he said was authorized by the president, Anthony Scaramucci went after chief of staff Reince Priebus in graphic terms. "The fish stinks from the head down," he said. "I can tell you two fish that don't stink, and that's me and the president."

Not even a week into his new job, Scaramucci accused unidentified senior officials of trying to sabotage him. But the personal financial information that he said someone had "leaked" about him had simply been obtained through a public records request.

The president's senior counsellor, Kellyanne Conway, also speculated in a Fox News interview that unnamed forces were out to get Scaramucci, saying: "Somebody is trying to get in his way and scare him off."

"There are leaks and then there are people using the press to shiv each other in the ribs," she said.



More World News