Briton used
Reince Priebus guise to email White House communications chief after use of
‘paranoid schizophrenic’
A British
prankster who tricked the former White House communications chief Anthony
Scaramucci into an email slanging match has said he targeted him because he
used “paranoid schizophrenic” as an insult.
The
anonymous hoaxer, believed to be a 39-year-old from Manchester who has had mental
health problems, pretended to be Scaramucci’s White House rival Reince Priebus
and baited him by saying that he was “breathtakingly hypocritical” and “at no
stage have you acted in a way that is remotely classy”.
Scaramucci,
who was fired by Trump on Monday following a foul-mouthed outburst at White
House colleagues, apparently believed he was having an email conversation with
Reibus and replied: “You know what you did. We all do. Even today. But rest
assured we were prepared. A Man would apologize.”
The
prankster uses the pseudonym Sinon Reborn, after the spy Sinon who conned the
Trojans into taking the wooden horse into Troy in Virgil’s Aeneid.
The hoaxer
replied: “I can’t believe you are questioning my ethics! The so-called ‘Mooch’,
who can’t even manage his first week in the White House without leaving upset
in his wake. I have nothing to apologize for.”
Scaramucci
fired back: “Read Shakespeare. Particularly Othello. You are right there. My
family is fine by the way and will thrive. I know what you did. No more replies
from me.”
The
prankster, whose online profile says he works full-time, pranks as a hobby and
has three cats. He has previously duped the governor of the Bank of England,
Mark Carney, and Barclays boss Jess Staley by setting up fake email accounts.
In the last month he has claimed to have pulled off a string of of hoaxes
involving senior Trump administration figures, including pretending to be
Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, his sons Eric and Donald
Jr, and Jon Huntsman Jr, the next US ambassador to Russia.
Excerpts of
email conversations purporting to be with members of Trump’s inner circle
posted by the hoaxer on Twitter appear to show Eric Trump, Huntsman and
Scaramucci all responding to him. The Guardian has not been able to verify the
excerpts, but the White House spokeswoman, Sarah Huckerbee Saunders, said: “We
take all cyber-related issues very seriously and are looking into these
incidents further.”
Earlier this
year, Sinon Reborn raised a question about his hoaxes by running a poll on
Twitter that asked: “Do you think everything I post is real? I’m intrigued to
know how my pranks are perceived.”
The
suspected email breaches in Washington compound the embarrassment for the White
House after Scaramucci was fired after just 10 days in the job, during which he
described Priebus as “a fucking paranoid schizophrenic, a paranoiac” in a phone
conversation with a journalist from the New Yorker.
Sinon
Reborn said
on Twitter on Tuesday: “I targeted Scaramucci as I’ve suffered from
mental health problems all my life, and he seems to think paranoid
schizophrenia is a putdown.” He said he “was in rehab 3 months ago”. But he
appeared to be enjoying his moment of fame and said: “Just goes to show. Follow
your calling, even if it seems utterly mental and unconventional. Life is fun
at times.”
He also told
the White House: “FYI I won’t be pranking you any longer, point made. I’m just
a dude with a iPhone, you need to tighten up IT policy. love xx”
In one hoax
email exchange shown to CNN in which he apparently posed as Kushner, the hoaxer
wrote to the official White House email account of the homeland security
adviser Tom Bossert: “We are arranging a bit of a soiree towards the end of
August. It would be great if you could make it, I promise food of at least
comparible [sic] quality to that which we ate in Iraq. Should be a great
evening.”
Bossert
replied: “Thanks, Jared. With a promise like that I can’t refuse. Also if you
ever need it my personal email is [redacted].”
After Sinon
Reborn sent a hoax note to Huntsman Jr posing as Eric Trump, the future
ambassador to Russia replied: “Thanks for a thoughtful note. Russia will be a challenging
but no doubt rewarding assignment. Best to your family. … Hope to connect at
some point.”
Fake Eric
replied: “Oh you’re welcome, Jon. Maybe we could have Dad sat on a horse, top
off, giving the full Putin! He’s in better shape than his suit suggest [sic].”
Extracts
from fake emails
Fake
Reince Priebus to real Anthony Scaramucci
Personally
I’d get rid of dumb and dumber, the Trump sons. Seeing them posing with various
bits of animal they’ve shot is the biggest overcompensation for under developed
testicles I’ve ever had the misfortune to see … In my humble, Anthony.
Fake
Anthony Habgood (chairman of the court of the Bank of England) to Mark Carney,
the Bank’s governor
I’m
having a Summer Nights-themed soiree on Saturday 17 June. As much martini as
you can take. Are you free?
Carney: Sounds ideal. Will check at
home and at work.
Habgood: Excellent. I’ve hired some
rather dashing bar ladies (is that PC?). If you ask for the crystal glasses,
you’ll be able to admire their enchanting dexterity. I keep those glasses low
down, ha! You don’t reach my age without knowing all the tricks.
Carney: Sorry Anthony. Not appropriate
at all.
Fake
Priebus to Scaramucci
I had
promised myself I would leave my hands mud-free, but after reading your tweet
today, which states how ‘soon we will learn who in the media has class and who
hasn’t’, has pushed me to this. That tweet was breathtakingly hypocritical,
even for you. At no stage have you acted in a way that’s even remotely classy,
yet you believe that’s the standard by which everyone should behave towards
you.
Scaramucci: You know what you did. We all
do. Even today. But rest assured we were prepared. A Man would apologize.
0 Comments