Washington, July 22 (RHC)-- White House spokesman Sean Spicer has resigned, barely six months after U.S. President Trump gave him the post. According to The New York Times, Spicer stepped down on Friday after Trump named Anthony Scaramucci his new communications director, part of an effort to reset his embattled White House.
Trump requested that Spicer stay on, but he declined to do so and told the president that hiring Scaramucci was a big mistake, the Times reported. The post has been empty since the previous White House communications director, Mike Dubke, resigned in May.
Spicer is a former spokesman and strategist from the Republican National Committee. His resignation could point to more changes coming at a White House facing investigations looking at Russia's alleged involvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. His departure was abrupt and reflected increasing tensions within Trump's legal and communications teams.
In a statement released by the White House, Trump said he was “grateful for Sean’s work” and wished him “continued success as he moves on to pursue new opportunities — just look at his great television ratings.”
Scaramucci addressed reporters Friday afternoon. He thanked Spicer for doing an “amazing job” and added: “I love the guy. I hope he goes on to make a tremendous amount of money.”
A member of President Trump's legal team also resigned on Friday, according to AFP. Mark Corallo coordinated the Trump legal team's public response to the crisis over an investigation following accusations of the Trump campaign’s collusion with Russia.
Corallo resigned after just two months on the job. He is believed to have stepped down over disagreements with the way Trump’s legal team was handling the Russia probe. The U.S. intelligence community has raised alarm about Russia's cyberattacks, describing them as a "major threat" to the U.S. voting system, and continues to brief the president about the issue.
An intelligence official told CNN that Trump seems engaged when being briefed on Russia's interference in the election, but he has vented his frustration outside of the intelligence briefings that too much attention is being paid to the ongoing investigation into the alleged Russian interference in the election.
Trump has repeatedly defended his crisis-ridden presidency and decried the "witch hunt" against him amid the sweeping probe of alleged Russian meddling in the U.S. election.
