Scaramucci moves toward purge at White House

WASHINGTON — Anthony Scaramucci, the flashy financier President Trump hired to overhaul the White House communications operation, is exercising a broad mandate from the president and intends to follow through on threats to purge aides he believes are disloyal to Trump and leaking to the press, officials with knowledge of the fast-moving effort said Monday.

Just four days into the job, Scaramucci has moved into Trump’s inner sanctum and is now described by some colleagues as almost family to the president — in contrast to his predecessor, outgoing press secretary Sean Spicer, who was described as more like the help.

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-onone 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 has long complained to associates that some White House staffers have been more focused on managing the image of Priebus than on defending Trump and promoting his agenda. An informal list of names, including several officials who previously worked under Priebus and Spicer at the Republican National Committee, has been circulating among Scaramucci allies as those who may be in jeopardy.

One of Priebus’ deputies, Katie Walsh, was pushed out of the White House earlier this year, and Scaramucci’s overhaul is likely to leave Priebus even more isolated in the West Wing.

Scaramucci also has vowed to root out unauthorized leaks to journalists from White House officials. Over the weekend, Scaramucci delivered an unusual public warning to the staff he is inheriting: If you are leaking, prepare to be fired.

“We’ve got to get the leaks stopped,” he said on “Fox News Sunday.”