President Donald Trump has been actively seeking leakers from his White House since he took office, with a purging of his communications team as a clear message that traitors will not be tolerated.
But a new report suggests that one leaker is still in Washington, and he is alarmingly close to the president.
Axios reported Saturday that sources from the West Wing claim that Chief strategist and former Breitbart editor Steve Bannon is the latest suspect in the leaks.
Trump is allegedly “fed up” and “irritated” with Bannon, specifically for failing to act when his former publication slammed National Security Adviser General H.R. McMaster.
Since the appointment of General John Kelly as White House Chief, Bannon has reportedly spent less and less time with the President. Kelly was allegedly horrified at the attacks against McMaster by Breitbart, leading to a distaste for Bannon who did nothing to stop them.
Both Kelly and Attorney General Jeff Sessions have vowed to crackdown on leakers, regardless of their ranking or relationship with the president.
Two senior Trump advisers reiterated the suspected firing of Bannon to CNN, claiming that White House chief of staff John Kelly has an issue with Bannon’s self promotion and focus on a personal agenda.
Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci also suggested Trump may fire Bannon, telling CNN that he spoke with the president last week.
“I think the President knows what he’s going to do with Steve Bannon. It’s his decision. But I mean at the end of the day, I think the President has a very good idea of who the leakers are inside the White House. The President has a very good idea of the people that are undermining his agenda that are serving their own interests.”
While Bannon’s firing has been rumoured in the past amidst a feud with Trump son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, the reorganization of White House staff has resulted in a revisiting of the Bannon’s possible firing.
And we know from the history of Trump’s White House, suspected leakers are never tolerated.
-The Horn editorial team