White House Assistant Press Secretary Michael Short resigned on Tuesday, hours after the incoming communications director told reporters that he planned to fire him, part of a shake-up of the president’s press shop.
Word that Short would be fired emerged on early Tuesday morning, and newly-appointed White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci later confirmed to Politico that he planned to dismiss Short at a morning meeting.
Short initially denied reports that he was about to be fired, but he later told reporters that he had submitted his resignation.
It was not immediately certain why Short was ousted, but Scaramucci emphasized in interviews that he was working to end internal leaks from the press office, going as far to say that he was prepared to “fire everybody” except the press secretary to stop the leaks.
Pro-Trump websites such as Breitbart have accused Short of being a suspected leaker, which Short strongly denied in interviews on Tuesday. “Allegations I ever leaked anything are demonstrably false,” he told Politico.
It has been a turbulent week for the White House press office. Scaramucci, a former New York financier and longtime Trump surrogate, was appointed communications director on Friday, prompting Press Secretary Sean Spicer, who reportedly disagreed with the appointment, to submit his resignation.
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