President Donald Trump on Monday condemned the White House “leakers” as “traitors”, promising that he will find out who they are – although in the past he denied that the West Wing has a problem with leaks, CNN reported.
“The so-called leaks coming out of the White House are a massive over exaggeration put out by the Fake News Media in order to make us look as bad as possible,” Trump tweeted Monday afternoon.
Trump also hinted that an investigation is underway into who in the White House is sharing classified information with the press. “With that being said, leakers are traitors and cowards, and we will find out who they are!” he wrote.
Trump’s remarks come just days after it was reported that White House aide Kelly Sadler made inappropriate comments about Senator John McCain’s cancer diagnosis.
Sadler, during an internal meeting, allegedly said that McCain’s opposition to CIA director nominee Gina Haspel “doesn’t matter” because “he’s dying anyway,” according to sources familiar with her comments.
However, the White House did not give a public apology for the remarks and Trump’s response is expected to confirm controversy surrounding them.
Meanwhile, a group of bipartisan lawmakers on Capitol Hill and members of McCain’s family demand from Sadler to apologize publicly for her comments.
Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn also backed McCain when he told reporters on Monday that “an apology is appropriate … from the person who said that really dumb thing.”
Senator John Thune also condemned the White House’s response, saying it has worsened the situation.
“It’s just a really unfortunate circumstance,” Thune said. “Obviously what was said was very wrong and inappropriate. It would have been a lot easier if they had just nipped it right away … Now it’s [dragged] on for five days.”
White House spokesman Raj Shah suggested no apology would be forthcoming, saying the matter is “being addressed internally.”
“If you aren’t able, in internal meetings, to speak your mind or convey thoughts or say anything that you feel without feeling like your colleagues will betray you, that creates a very difficult work environment,” Shah said.
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