New White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci flatly said Sunday that he is going to fire all future leakers on his watch.
The subject came up when CBS "Face The Nation" host John Dickerson asked Scaramucci why President Donald Trump had tweeted a day earlier about his ability to grant pardons.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/888724194820857857
That tweet was prompted by reports that Trump had privately asked adviserss about his ability to pardon himself and others in his orbit.
Scaramucci said the leaks of that conversation and other leaks were "unprofessional," "injurious to the government," and possibly "felonious."
"He's done absolutely nothing wrong. There's no need for him to pardon anybody," Scaramucci said. "But he just doesn't like the fact that he has a two-minute conversation in the Oval Office or in his study, and then people are running out and leaking that."
Scaramucci said he would be working on changing the culture inside the White House to stop the practice.
"What happens to leakers on your watch?" Dickerson asked.
"They're going to get fired," Scaramucci said.
Scaramucci said he would hold a staff meeting on Monday and make it clear that anyone who wants to stay on will not leak private conversations to the press.
"We're as strong as our weakest leak," he said. "So if you guys want to keep leaking, why don't you guys all get together and make a decision as a team that you're going to stop leaking. But if you're going to keep leaking, I'm going to fire everybody. It's just very binary."