Scaramucci Terminates Suspected Leaker Michael Short from White House

Suspected leaker Michael Short has been terminated from the White House communications office, Breitbart News can confirm.

Short, an ally of White House chief of staff Reince Priebus and now former Press Secretary Sean Spicer—who resigned last week—was terminated on Tuesday by new White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci.

Politico’s Tara Palmeri was the first to report the news.

“Newly appointed White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci said on Tuesday that he plans to dismiss assistant press secretary Michael Short,” Palmeri wrote on Tuesday morning. “It would be Scaramucci’s first step toward shaking up the communications shop, which has been dominated by former Republican National Committee staffers loyal to White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, a former RNC chairman.”

Short originally worked for the Trump campaign—placed on it by Priebus—and quit the campaign, sources tell Breitbart News, after the Access Hollywood tape came out. Politico confirmed this report, noting that Short walked out in the middle of the campaign leaving his computer behind only to show back up in January at the behest of the Republican National Committee (RNC) allies in the White House.

“He was scorned by many of his colleagues for quitting the Trump campaign, only to rejoin as a White House staffer because of Priebus,” Palmeri wrote of Short. “In a story often retold by campaign staffers, they arrived at Trump Tower one morning, months before the election, to see Short’s computer left open on his otherwise empty desk. He had quit the campaign that day and never returned. The next time he was seen by former campaign staffers was in January on their first day in the White House, where some were stunned to learn that they were going to have to work alongside him or for some of the press assistants subordinate to him.”

Multiple White House sources tell Breitbart News that Short was a leaker, and worked closely with now former White House deputy chief of staff Katie Walsh—another RNC wing official who was terminated earlier this year for her own suspected leaking.

Short has not responded to a request for comment on the questions about his leaking. But he did tell CNN he does not believe he has been fired, even though multiple White House sources confirm he has been.

“No one has told me anything and the entire premise is false,” Short told CNN.

Short denied to Breitbart News that he is a leaker. “I have never leaked,” he said in an email.

According to Palmeri, too, Short has now denied that he quit the campaign–he just says he went to work back at the RNC.

But it’s pretty clear that President Trump doesn’t buy it.

https://twitter.com/jonathanvswan/status/889842557668163584

Scaramucci has confirmed multiple times in interviews over the weekend that he plans to root out leakers throughout the White House.

Now, on Tuesday, he has again confirmed that he will terminate everyone if necessary to stop the leaks.

UPDATE 12:50 P.M. ET:

After originally resisting his looming termination for being a suspected leaker–and denying leaking–Short has announced to the press that he has resigned his position in the White House.

https://twitter.com/jonathanvswan/status/889888802130583552