July 27, 2017

JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE PARANOID...:

The Real Story Behind Mooch's War on Reince : Anthony Scaramucci just accused Reince Priebus of a felony. For no reason. (STEPHEN F. HAYES, 7/27/17, Weekly Standard)

Philip Rucker, who covers the White House for the Washington Post, tweeted: "Tensions between Scaramucci and Priebus are raw as ever, I'm told tonight. There's a reason Mooch tagged Reince on FBI leak tweet." A short time later he added: "Some in White House are trying to build a case that Priebus is a leaker--'a diagram' charting leaks, per senior official--to show Trump."

Scaramucci, it seemed, was trying to shoot the king--or at least publicly frame him. And he wasn't shy about telling others at the White House that he believed Priebus had leaked the documents, though he couldn't provide evidence to support his claims. Still, Scaramucci vowed to make Priebus pay.

The plan, however, had several flaws. The most significant: Scaramucci didn't just lack evidence that Priebus was behind the leak--he lacked evidence that there had even been a leak in the first place.

As Peter Baker and Nicholas Fandos reported late Wednesday night in the New York Times:

Mr. Scaramucci filed the disclosure form in connection with his previous, short-lived job with the Trump administration at the Export-Import Bank. Under federal law, anyone can request such a report on a government website 30 days after its receipt.

Mr. Scaramucci's report says it was filed on June 23, which means it could be publicly released by the bank on July 23, or last Sunday. Politico did not indicate whether it obtained the report through such a regular request.

Asked why he thought the report had been leaked illegally, Mr. Scaramucci responded by text: "They aren't in process yet." But when told his form could be released on July 23, he did not respond further.

There was a reason Scaramucci didn't respond further: There had been no leak. The Politico reporter, Lorraine Woellert, obtained Scaramucci's disclosures by making a routine request to the Ex-Im bank for the form 278e that Scaramucci completed before working there. Woellert tweeted: "Mr @Scaramucci's Form 278e is publicly available from ExIm. Just ask."

...doesn't mean you're not violating ethical standards...
Posted by at July 27, 2017 7:28 AM

  

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