An email was leaked yesterday that came from Susie Wiles earlier this year about preventing leaks from the White House staff to the media.
Politico has the news:
In late March, White House chief of staff SUSIE WILES sent a blunt message to staff across the Executive Office of the President: Stop leaking to the press.
In an email obtained by West Wing Playbook, Wiles warned that “no staff member within the Executive Office of the President is permitted to speak with members of the news media without the explicit approval of the White House Communications Office,” and that “unauthorized leaks will not be tolerated and are subject to sanction up to and including termination.”
The directive marked one of Wiles’ clearest moves to crack down on leaks that might interfere with official White House messaging, as the West Wing has grown increasingly frustrated with staff bypassing formal channels and carrying disputes or decision-making battles into the press, according to a person familiar with the matter granted anonymity to discuss internal dynamics.
“She was generally very frustrated with leaks,” the person told West Wing Playbook, adding that the directive from President DONALD TRUMP’s top adviser may not have been precipitated by any one specific leak.
“Violation of this policy can result in significant disruption to ongoing operations and can potentially endanger missions and activities of national significance,” Wiles wrote in the email.
The policy change is also one of a series of moves to rein in internal freelancing and enforce stricter operational discipline across Trump’s White House. Last month, Wiles privately instructed Cabinet officials to avoid unnecessary international travel and remain focused on implementing Trump’s domestic agenda at home.
Wiles’ challenge, like that of anyone leading a Trump White House, is how to impose order in a political orbit long powered by rival factions and aides cultivating their own channels of influence. While Trump’s first administration was often defined by power struggles spilling into the press, Wiles has spent the first year and a half of the second term trying to build a more centralized operation where messaging flows through senior leadership, not around it.
“There are hundreds of White House staffers faithfully serving the American people, all of whom are held to strict policies – including a zero-tolerance policy against speaking to the media without explicit authorization from the Communications Office – to ensure the President’s message is communicated clearly, accurately, and directly to the American people,” White House spokesperson LIZ HUSTON said in a statement.