White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Friday abruptly resigned in protest at a major shake-up of US President Donald Trump’s scandal-tainted administration, as pressure mounted from a broadening investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia.
Spicer quit after Trump named Anthony Scaramucci, a Wall Street financier and one-time critic, as the new White House communications director — a role Spicer had hoped to play.
“It’s been an honor & a privilege to serve @POTUS @realDonaldTrump & this amazing country. I will continue my service through August,” Spicer tweeted.
Photo: EPA
In a written statement, Trump said he was “grateful” for Spicer’s work and praised his “great television ratings” — a reference to Spicer’s keenly watched, combative and often-satirized news briefings.
“Spicer is a wonderful person who took tremendous abuse from the Fake News Media - but his future is bright!” Trump tweeted.
Spicer was replaced by White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
In an interview with Fox News, Spicer said he stepped aside to “not have too many cooks in the kitchen” to convey Trump’s message.
Spicer’s resignation marked an escalation of tensions within an administration that has seen its legislative agenda falter at the same time it has been buffeted by an investigation into alleged collusion with Russia.
The Washington Post on Friday reported that us Attorney General Jeff Sessions, contrary to his prior testimony, discussed campaign-related and policy matters with Russia’s ambassador to Washington, citing intelligence intercepts.
In another blow, Mark Corallo — who was coordinating the Trump legal team’s public response to the Russia crisis — told reporters that he, too, had stepped down.
After months of denials, the White House was rocked by e-mails showing Trump’s eldest son and two top aides met with a Russian lawyer in the belief they would get dirt on the Republican billionaire’s US presidential election rival, former US secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton.
In response, Trump aides have floated the idea of pre-emptive presidential pardons and Trump has warned investigators not to look into his family finances.
Spicer’s decision appears to have happened quickly, with neither he nor Sanders giving any indication of changes afoot when they had drinks with a group of journalists on Thursday evening.
Spicer had “no regrets” on his way out the door, he said on Fox on Friday.
Yet he angrily lashed out at US media, claiming they were “obsessed” with Russia after US intelligence agencies said that Moscow was involved in meddling with the US presidential election Trump won.
“The majority of folks that are now in this — in the briefing room, that are going into journalism, they’re not there for the facts and the pursuit of the truth. Rather, they’re trying to figure out, how do I get on TV, how do I become a YouTube star, and that’s disappointing,” Spicer said.
“I thought it would be a bit confusing having additional people at the top and so I wanted to move on to give both Anthony and Sarah that clear lane in each of their respective areas,” he said.
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