naming names
Jared Kushner is reportedly the White House staffer behind Joe Scarborough's blackmail allegations
Apparently it was Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, who told Morning Joe co-host Joe Scarborough that he'd have to "personally apologize" to Trump if he wanted to stop a story about him from being published in the National Enquirer, New York's Gabriel Sherman reported Friday.
Sherman reported that Kushner and Scarborough texted in "mid-April" about the story, which was about Scarborough's romantic relationship with his co-host Mika Brzezinski, which was not public at the time. Trump was apparently upset about the tough coverage Morning Joe had given him since his inauguration, and Kushner reportedly told Scarborough that he'd have to apologize about this if he wanted Trump to intervene and stop the story from running.
Scarborough refused, and on June 5, the Enquirer published a story titled, "Morning Joe Sleazy Cheating Scandal!"
Brzezinski and Scarborough first revealed Trump's alleged blackmailing attempts in an op-ed published in The Washington Post on Friday, the day after Trump fired off nasty tweets about the TV hosts. In the tweets, Trump called Brzezinski "low I.Q. Crazy Mika" and Scarborough "Psycho Joe."
Brzezinski and Scarborough mentioned that "top White House staff members" warned them about the story, but they hadn't disclosed who that staff member was.