Alex Conant is a Republican strategist and partner at Firehouse Strategies.

The new White House communications director is launching a take-no-prisoners mole hunt, promising to stop future leaks.

He won’t succeed.


Over the past 15 years, I’ve worked in dozens of political organizations that all leaked to varying degrees. In 2008, I was the national press secretary for the Republican National Committee when internal concerns about vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin turned the final weeks of John McCain’s presidential campaign into a gusher of leaks.

In contrast, last year I was the communications director on Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign, an organization that proudly rarely leaked. Our campaign embraced a practice of not indulging self-serving media narratives that distracted from our message, which helped discourage unauthorized leaks—even as it became clear Donald Trump would win the nomination. (Our campaign was so leak-free that when CNN claimed to have a leak in the final weeks of Rubio’s run, I confidently went on air to call BS.)

To borrow from Tolstoy: Political organizations that don’t leak are all alike; every one that does leak is leaky in its own way. In some leaky organizations, people leak to advance agendas or undermine opponents. Some leakers seek to enhance their egos or curry favor with reporters. Sometimes people leak without even realizing it, speaking carelessly to journalists or lobbyists, who then repeat the story to others. The common thread is that unauthorized leaks are a symptom of political organizations that have a broken culture: They lack unity, trust and self-discipline.

This is not to excuse leaks or leakers. The improper sharing of information outside an organization inevitably paralyzes it, which leads to more dysfunction and failure. President Trump is completely justified to be outraged about the leaks in his White House. But mole hunts inevitably lead only to more moles, and more leaks.

Trump’s White House is not leaky because of a few bad apples. The No. 1 reason why it leaks is because his team lacks unity. It’s not without irony that many of the leaks are about the very staff infighting that is causing the leaks.

In business, employees are united by the common purpose of maximizing profits. Political organizations have no financial bottom line: They must unite around a shared vision and purpose. During the campaign, Trump united his team around the goal of winning an election. But in the White House, Trump has failed to unite his team (let alone the American people) around an organizing principle that is larger than defending the president’s own reputation. Without a common purpose, factions feel the need to leak against one another.

The leaks are also the result of deep disloyalty, for which the president has only himself to blame. Trump demands blind loyalty from his subordinates. But blind loyalty does not exist in politics, except among sycophants and people without principles—neither of whom make for trustworthy aides. If Trump wants loyalty from his Cabinet and staff, he must recognize that loyalty is a two-way street and show them more respect than he has to date. With his attacks on Attorney General Jeff Sessions, he’s demonstrating precisely the opposite: Even his most loyal supporters cannot expect loyalty in return.

Finally, even if the team is loyal and united, a political organization that does not promote self-discipline will always suffer from leaks. Washington is filled with journalists and lobbyists who built their careers trading information. The temptation to curry favor with powerful influencers is real, especially for aides with big egos or little experience. Obviously, this White House has plenty of both, which makes it even more important that Trump model the behavior he wants to see in others.

Instead, the president’s tweets and interviews show a lack of discipline. It is no secret that he continues to have off-the-record conversations with the news media and sometimes shares more than he should. In this environment, it’s not realistic to expect discipline from staff when the boss sets a poor example.

Trump’s frustration is understandable, especially after his remarkable political achievements in 2016. However, his presidential campaign leaked like a sieve for many of the same reasons that his White House does. The problems are more acute now only because his team lacks the shared goal of winning an election.

“You are either going to work inside the culture the way the president wants it or you’re gonna be on Pennsylvania Avenue out here selling postcards to the tourists,” Trump’s new communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, said on Fox News this week.

With all due respect, he has it backward. The leaks will stop only if President Trump instills a culture of unity, loyalty and self-discipline in his administration.

If the current culture does not change, the leaks will continue no matter how many White House aides are sent to join the tourists on Pennsylvania Avenue.

