WASHINGTON _ White House staffers continued their angry campaign against leaks _ and each other _ as top adviser Kellyanne Conway used vivid language in a Fox interview Thursday to denounce colleagues who are "using the press to shiv each other in the ribs."
The comments came shortly after Anthony Scaramucci, the new White House communications director, delivered his own attack on leakers _ all but blaming Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff _ in an interview on CNN.
If the Trump White House at times resembles a reality show, cable television has become the confessional booth where the players vent their anger at each other. That dynamic was on vivid display Thursday morning.
Conway largely backed Scaramucci without explicitly taking sides in his public war against Priebus, whom he publicly suggested leaked Scaramucci's financial disclosure forms to the press. The forms are public and available through a request.
"We just have to cut down on people thinking it's cute and it's popular and it somehow enhances their resume and their portfolio for later on to curry favor with folks who are more interested in covering the style and not the substance here," Conway said of those who leak to he press.
Asked specifically whether she agrees with Scaramucci that Priebus leaked the financial forms, Conway passed on the opportunity to defend Priebus.
"Leakers are easier to figure out than many think," she said, perhaps ominously given Scaramucci's threats to fire suspects. "This West Wing is a very small place."
