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Kellyanne Conway Is Biggest White House Leaker, Says Author Of New Book

Kellyanne Conway Is Biggest White House Leaker, Says Author Of New Book

The author of the latest book on President Donald Trump’s White House claims that the president’s counselor Kellyanne Conway leaks more information to the media than anyone else in the administration.

“If you wonder why there are so many leaks out of the White House, one reason is Kellyanne Conway is the number one leaker,” author Ronald Kessler told Jake Tapper on Sunday during CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Kessler, who once worked for The Washington Post, said Conway was unguarded in her criticisms of her colleagues when she spoke to him while he was researching The Trump White House: Changing the Rules of the Game, due out Tuesday.

Conway said some of the “most mean, cutting and obviously untrue” things about former chief of staff Reince Priebus, Kessler told Tapper. She also “lit into” first daughter Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, for leaking information about ousted White House chief strategist Steve Bannon. Also, aides told Kessler that they saw texts from Conway to members of the media “dissing her colleagues” and “leaking material,” he said.

Conway responded on Monday to Kessler’s comments.

“I have a great working relationship and great relationship with Jared and Ivanka,” she said during an appearance on “Fox & Friends.” “First of all, the president and I talked at length last night about a number of issues ― talked about that very briefly, because there’s so many relevant things happening. He knows ... who the leakers and the liars are and have been.”

“We don’t need a book to tell us that Mr. Trump is going to be a great president,” she added. “And I just want to say one thing, leakers get great press. I got a lot of texts and emails yesterday, ‘Wow, I feel so left out. You never tell me anything.’ Leakers get great press. One day ... I will have my say.”

Kessler also revealed on Sunday that Trump understands that his daughter and Kushner are “problems,” and that their inexperience led them to press the president into some of the most dangerous moves of his presidency, such as the “disastrous” firing of former FBI Director James Comey.

“In the end, Jared and Ivanka would push the most disastrous and foolish decisions of Trump’s presidency ... they had no understanding of the basic fundamentals of how government works ... most of all, they had no understanding of the political consequences of their actions,” Kessler wrote in his book.

Trump is unlikely to force the couple out of his administration because they’re family, Kessler said.

The book is expected to present a dramatically different view from Michael Wolff’s explosive Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.

Kessler told Tapper that Trump will one day be considered a great president. He also told TMZ Sunday that the White House is plenty diverse.

This article has been updated with comments from Conway.

Hayley Miller contributed reporting.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.