Emanuel Brings Down Hammer as Obama Seeks to Put Lid on Leaks

Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama’s first 100 days, which included a $787 billion economic stimulus package and a recasting of U.S. war strategy, were barely over when Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel began to anticipate a breakdown of White House discipline.

After convening a staff meeting by slamming his palm on the tabletop, Emanuel warned Obama’s aides that loose lips would endanger the administration’s goals.

“He talked about how the next phase would be far more difficult, that the challenges would be much greater,” recalled Anita Dunn, White House communications director. Emanuel stressed that success “would depend on keeping to the basic method of operation that we had -- in terms of not leaking, not playing out policy disputes through the press.”

For the most part, that script has been followed. The Obama White House has largely avoided the open dissent or anonymous-source sniping that sometimes bedeviled his predecessors, especially President Bill Clinton.

Obama’s more structured decision-making “helps limit leaks,” said Dee Dee Myers, who served as Clinton’s first press secretary.

The attitude among top aides also helps keep internal debates from becoming public. “This is a loyal crew, and while there will inevitably be leaks, this administration will not have to spend a lot of time chasing its own tail,” said Mark McKinnon, a political adviser to former President George W. Bush.

The administration hasn’t been leak free.

Craig’s Job

In September, stories citing unnamed administration officials said White House Counsel Gregory Craig may be dumped because Obama’s January deadline for closing the Guantanamo Bay prison likely will be missed. Craig had been in charge of the process. Top White House aides, including press secretary Robert Gibbs, discounted the speculation and Craig remains in his job.

About the same time, details of Army General Stanley McChrystal’s secret recommendation for more U.S. troops in Afghanistan were reported by the Washington Post, based on a document obtained by the newspaper. The leak, which may not have come from the White House, increased pressure on Obama as he conducts his closed-door review of the U.S. Afghan policy.

After the stories appeared, Emanuel again “brought the hammer down,” letting aides know that leaks won’t be tolerated, said David Axelrod, the president’s senior adviser.

While Emanuel enforces the rules, the demand for discipline comes from the Oval Office and dates to the earliest days of Obama’s campaign, Axelrod said.

Sharp Elbows

Before launching his White House bid in early 2007, Obama told confidants: “If I find people throwing sharp elbows, or leaking, or pointing fingers at each other, then they’re going to have to leave,” Axelrod said.

Within Washington power circles, varying motivations spark leaks. People talk without authorization to influence policy, to settle scores, or promote their own importance, veterans of previous administrations say.

“If the boss doesn’t listen to the staff, the staff finds ways to get the message to the boss through a leak,” said Ari Fleischer, Bush’s first White House press secretary. Leaks also occur “if such bad rivalries exist that one person tries to take down another person,” he said.

Leakers sometimes want to “show how much they know,” said Myers.

Leaks will become more likely as Obama’s inner circle expands and the administration takes on more people with less personal loyalty to the president, said Stephen Hess, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think-tank.

Emanuel’s Vigilance

Emanuel, a veteran of Clinton’s White House, is vigilant in battling leaks, said Dunn.

“When there’s been a leak or a story that was inconsistent with what we’re trying to accomplish,” Emanuel will “remind people about why we’re here” and that “we behave differently from previous administrations,” she said.

Obama weighs in when necessary. He “doesn’t allow for second-guessing and doesn’t respond well to campaigns that are waged during the process to change his mind or inform his thinking,” Dunn said.

After a July New York Times story described tensions between Emanuel and Valerie Jarrett, a longtime Obama friend and White House adviser, the president told aides to stop cooperating with personality profiles.

Obama ‘Offended’

“The president was offended,” Axelrod said. “What happens inside this family stays inside this family. That’s how we operated during the campaign, and that’s how we operate now.”

White House aides are to provide limited cooperation with profile stories about others and aren’t to give interviews for stories about themselves, a senior administration official said. A Washington Post profile published Nov. 2 of political director Patrick Gaspard said the aide refused requests for comment.

Obama’s aides have sometimes leaked information they believed would help the president. During the Afghanistan policy review, some officials spoke anonymously to the New York Times and the Associated Press about options being considered by the administration. Aides weren’t happy with the results and decided to stop the practice, said a senior official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

“We have vigorous debates in here,” Axelrod said. “But they shouldn’t take place in Bloomberg or on the front page of the New York Times or anywhere else.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Edwin Chen in Washington at echen32@bloomberg.net Kate Andersen Brower in Washington at kandersen7@bloomberg.net