Trump stocked his White House full of colorful characters, but new Comms Director Anthony Scaramucci swiftly made himself the flashiest of all. On top of this weekend’s news that he’s producing an HBO flick about disgraced Penn State coach Joe Paterno, his divorce drama continues to nab headlines. And this wouldn’t be too newsworthy if the timing wasn’t directly tied to his new gig, but it’s all intertwined, including a report from Page Six (which broke the filing story, citing Scaramucci’s “naked ambition,” on Friday). The outlet says the Mooch’s estranged wife, Deidre Ball, actually filed for divorce a few weeks ago (on July 6) while she was nine months pregnant.
The saga grows more complicated with the reiteration that Ball isn’t a Trump fan and didn’t want her husband taking the job. In addition, the Mooch did not attend the birth of his child last Monday because he was on hand for Trump’s incendiary Boy Scout Jamboree speech. This Page Six update says that Scaramucci’s reaction to the birth was … not ideal:
“When James was born, he sent her a text saying, ‘Congratulations, I’ll pray for our child,'” said a source close to the situation.
Anthony’s associate said, “There was discussion between him, her and the divorce attorneys about Anthony going to the hospital and unfortunately … the delivery was sudden.”
Scaramucci’s text response to Ball, coupled with the fact that he still hadn’t visited his child as of Friday, speaks to the timing of the divorce filing landing in reporters’ hands. Indeed, Page Six says that Ball’s “anger with her husband was a factor,” although the paper points out that he did eventually — on Saturday — visit his new son in the hospital. As far as the reason for the couple’s split goes, they supposedly separated earlier this year, and no affairs are suspected on the Mooch’s part. Well, except for this: “The only one he’s dating right now is the West Wing of the White House.” Yep.
That last detail comes courtesy of Scaramucci’s publicist, Arthur Schwartz, who also curiously tweeted at the discarded Reince Priebus — to admit trashing him in the press — on Sunday morning (and CNN’s Jake Tapper adds some perspective):
Friend of @Scaramucci and man who has been quoted as his publicist in media stories about @Scaramucci 👇 https://t.co/BJhmLEffiR
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) July 30, 2017
https://twitter.com/ArthurSchwartz/status/891624552324886530
Tapper also pointed out that Schwartz accused Priebus of keeping a mistress, and as these tweets indicate, Schwartz has now deleted those claims and apologized to Priebus: “Pretty sure he’s not accepting my apology. Can’t blame him. I’m ashamed of what I said.”
Friend and guy IDed as @Scaramucci spokesman after being called out for tweeting accusation @reince has a mistress https://t.co/SgEfe1p6K7
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) July 30, 2017
https://twitter.com/ArthurSchwartz/status/891670502095413249
So, Scaramucci’s vendetta against the already-embattled Priebus was likely the final motivating factor for Trump finding a new chief of staff. It’s not too surprising, but Hurricane Mooch is only getting started.
(Via New York Post)