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posted by Fnord666 on Tuesday August 01 2017, @05:06PM   Printer-friendly
from the you-can't-make-this-stuff-up dept.

CNN and others are reporting that a prankster from UK has successfully impersonated White House staff sending emails to other White House staff,

"I try and keep it on the humorous side of things," the email prankster told CNN. "I'm not trying to get the keys to the vault or anything like that."

One such exchange appears to have possibly played a role in the tensions between then- White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci, who resigned from his job earlier today, and since-fired White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.

Masquerading as Priebus, the prankster emailed Scaramucci's official account using a mail.com account on Saturday, the day after Priebus' resignation was announced.

"I had promised myself I would leave my hands mud free," wrote the fake Priebus, "but after reading your tweet today which stated how; 'soon we will learn who in the media who 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? General Kelly will do a fine job. I'll even admit he will do a better job than me. But the way in which that transition has come about has been diabolical. And hurtful. I don't expect a reply."

The very real Scaramucci responded: "You know what you did. We all do. Even today. But rest assured we were prepared. A Man would apologize."

Fake Priebus wrote back: "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."

Actual Scaramucci responded: "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."

In another exchange, Scaramucci was hoodwinked by the same prankster pretending to be Ambassador to Russia-designate Jon Huntsman Jr.

"Who's (sic) head should roll first?" the bogus Huntsman asked from a Gmail account on Friday, before the Priebus termination had been announced. "Maybe I can help things along somewhat."

"Both of them," responded the real Scaramucci, in an apparent reference to both Priebus and White House Senior Adviser Steve Bannon, about whom Scaramucci has been quite critical.

After a few other nice messages of support from faux Huntsman, Scaramucci wrote, "Are you in Moscow now? If not please visit."

Huntsman himself was also tricked, with the prankster pretending to be Eric Trump, the President's son. "Thanks for the thoughtful note," the ambassador-designate wrote to fake Eric Trump. "Russia will be a challenging but no doubt rewarding assignment." The fake Eric Trump responded with this suggestion: "Maybe we could have Dad sat (sic) on a horse, top off, giving the full Putin! He's in better shape than his suits suggest."

Eric Trump, too, was similarly hoodwinked by the prankster emailing as his older brother, Donald Trump Jr., but he soon caught on and responded, "I have sent this to law enforcement who will handle from here." Neither Huntsman nor Trump would comment on the record.

The email prankster told CNN he never heard from anyone in law enforcement about his email to Eric Trump.

The CNN link also includes a Twitter handle for the prankster...


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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by Fluffeh on Tuesday August 01 2017, @09:58PM (2 children)

    by Fluffeh (954) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday August 01 2017, @09:58PM (#547762) Journal

    What can a prankster do the WH that the WH cannot do to itself?

    For a while I kept thinking to myself, how can this WH look any dumber, any more naive and in general... any less presidential. However, like a pimply faced kid with a new RPG, they do seem to constantly be levelling up, gaining new abilities to surprise - and in cases like this, allow the prankster to provide handy little stepping stones that unlock new achievements in jaw-dropping stupid.

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  • (Score: 4, Funny) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Tuesday August 01 2017, @10:18PM (1 child)

    by GreatAuntAnesthesia (3275) on Tuesday August 01 2017, @10:18PM (#547766) Journal

    Which kind of begs the question... what will "peak dumb" look like?

    My bet is that Trump grows an absurd moustache (or better yet, wears an obvious lip-wig), awards himself a bunch of military medals which he wears all the time, and fires the entire cabinet without replacing anyone because he believes he and his daughter can do it all better themselves. He then decrees that everyone must conclude every conversation with a special salute and the phrase "praise Trump, best president ever, like, really good president, #MAGA"

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 04 2017, @03:04PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 04 2017, @03:04PM (#548746)

      Which kind of begs the question...

      Nope.