A top lawyer has handed a major news outlet a ticking deadline over reporting on one of President Donald Trump's most powerful insiders.
White House Counsel Will Scharf sent Politico a letter Monday giving it 48 hours to correct or retract three stories about chief of staff Susie Wiles, Axios reported Wednesday. The deadline runs out Thursday. A White House official described Scharf as "uncharacteristically enraged" and warned that "all options are on the table."
The stories at issue were published last week. One reported that Trump had been weighing a replacement for Wiles, a claim the president dismissed as "fake news." A follow-up said the first story had caused a freakout and that Trump had exploded over it. A third suggested Wiles arranged a Fox News interview with Sean Hannity that set up the departing press secretary, Katie Zacharia, to stumble.
According to Scharf, Politico ran the reports despite "on-the-record refutations" from senior staff and Trump himself. The White House said it gave Politico text messages before publication showing Zacharia arranged the interview herself.
Scharf also accused Politico of keeping Wiles in the story because she was the "hook," calling that "a legally fraught and alarming admission to say the least."
"Freedom of the press is not a professional exemption from accountability," Scharf wrote.
He demanded that Politico retract or correct the stories, scrub them from its archives and issue "a prominent and public apology to the President of the United States and to Ms. Wiles." If it does not, Scharf warned of an "immediate review of Politico's relationship with the White House," along with "all other appropriate and available legal remedies."
Scharf did not spell out what the consequences would be. Politico did not respond to Axios' request for comment.
The Trump administration may also be laying the groundwork for a different line of attack, advisers outside the White House told Axios. Politico is owned by the German company Axel Springer, and White House Communications Director Steven Cheung wrote on X over the weekend that the outlet "is a foreign-op designed to interfere in American politics and meddle in our elections with disinformation and misinformation."
Politico is already barred from the Oval Office and Air Force One.