A suspected British prankster appears to have conned White House officials including Anthony Scaramucci into replying to him after pretending in email correspondence to be several different members of the Trump team. 
 
 The man, who goes by the Twitter handle @SINON_REBORN, posed as Jared Kushner well enough to convince homeland security adviser Tom Bossert to reply to him, according to CNN. Bossert included his personal email address in the exchange. 
 
 The man also fooled Scaramucci, the White House communications director who was fired on Monday, by pretending to be Reince Priebus, the former Trump administration chief of staff with whom he was believed to be in open warfare. 
 
 In a series of emails, the man posing as Priebus baited Scaramucci, accusing him of being “breathtakingly hypocritical” and saying “at no stage have you acted in a way that is remotely classy”. 
 
 Scaramucci responded: “You know what you did. We all do. Even today. But rest assured we were prepared. A Man would apologize.” 
 
 The heated exchange continued, with the prankster writing: “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.” 
 
 Scaramucci replied: “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.” 
 
 The White House has confirmed it is looking into the matter. “We take all cyber related issues very seriously and are looking into these incidents further,” press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told CNN. 
 
 EMAIL PRANKSTER (@SINON_REBORN) Reince (me) giving @Scaramucci something to think about. He never replied haha pic.twitter.com/hutjACmogR 
 
 EMAIL PRANKSTER (@SINON_REBORN) An excerpt of what I emailed to @Scaramucci whilst playing the part of Jon Huntsman Jr. Apparently this didn't seem out of the ordinary?! 😂🤡 pic.twitter.com/6INHJi3KCD 
 
 US energy secretary Rick Perry duped by Russian pranksters to talk about pig manure Read more 
 
 The man, who described himself as a “lazy anarchist” on his Twitter profile, told CNN that his actions were meant to be “humorous” not malicious. 
 
 “I’m not trying to get the keys to the vault or anything like that.” 
 
 
 
 He has previously convinced Scaramucci that he was the ambassador to Russia-designate Jon Hunstman and tricked Hunstman himself into believing he was the president’s son Eric Trump. He also fleetingly convinced Eric Trump he was his brother, Donald Jr. ||||| (CNN) A self-described "email prankster" in the UK fooled a number of White House officials into thinking he was other officials, including an episode where he convinced the White House official tasked with cyber security that he was Jared Kushner and received that official's private email address unsolicited. 
 
 "Tom, we are arranging a bit of a soirée towards the end of August," the fake Jared Kushner on an Outlook account wrote to the official White House email account of Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert. "It would be great if you could make it, I promise food of at least comparible (sic) quality to that which we ate in Iraq. Should be a great evening." 
 
 Bossert wrote back: "Thanks, Jared. With a promise like that, I can't refuse. Also, if you ever need it, my personal email is" (redacted). 
 
 Bossert did not respond to CNN's request for comment; the email prankster said he was surprised Bossert responded given his expertise. The emails were shared with CNN by the email prankster. 
 
 White House officials acknowledged the incidents and said they were taking the matter seriously. "We take all cyber related issues very seriously and are looking into these incidents further," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told CNN. 
 
 Cyber experts consulted by CNN say the incidents are illustrative of how vulnerable Americans -- even those in the highest reaches of power -- remain to the potential threat of spear-phishing, the process through which officials are duped by hackers, and expose government computers and systems to various cyber threats. No one in any of these situations clicked any links making them vulnerable, and the prankster appears motivated by mischief not anything more malignant, so the severity of these White House pranks should not be overstated. But spear-phishers often begin the process by falsely posing as a friend or associate before asking the victim to take further action. 
 
 "This shows how susceptible government officials are to spear-phishing in general," Adam Malone, a former cyber specialist and special agent for the FBI, told CNN. "Spear-phishing is the most common technique used by hackers to gain access to their victims. This information shines a light on how easy it is for people to build trust with unverified individuals." 
 
 Former Hillary Clinton campaign chair John Podesta infamously fell victim to such a trap, though the person who preyed on him had more nefarious intentions than mockery. 
 
 "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. ||||| Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump drove out his chief of staff on Friday, replacing Reince Priebus with Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly in an explosive move that ends a turbulent six-month tenure. 
 
 "The President wanted to go a different direction," Priebus told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on "The Situation Room" Friday evening. "A president has a right to hit a reset button. I think it's a good time to hit the reset button. I think he was right to hit the reset button." 
 
 "I'm always going to be a Trump fan," Priebus said. "I'm on Team Trump and I look forward to helping him achieve his goals and his agenda for the American people." 
 
 In his interview with CNN, Priebus repeatedly said he submitted his resignation to the President privately on Thursday. Yet throughout the day on Friday, sources close to him insisted that he was not resigning. 
 
 But around 5 p.m. ET, Trump made the announcement on Twitter just after landing on Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington. 
 
 "I am pleased to inform you that I have just named General/Secretary John F Kelly as White House Chief of Staff," Trump tweeted. "He is a Great American... and a Great Leader. John has also done a spectacular job at Homeland Security. He has been a true star of my Administration." 
 
 It wasn't until after the President named Kelly as his new chief of staff on Friday afternoon that sources close to Priebus reached out to reporters to say that he had resigned the day before. Other White House officials questioned that version of events, suggesting Priebus and his allies were trying to put a positive spin on the President's abrupt decision to bring on Kelly. 
 
 The move followed months of on-again, off-again speculation that Priebus would soon be ousted from an administration where he has consistently drawn heavy criticism for failing to stem the flow of leaks and struggled to impose a sense of order in a chaotic White House beset by controversies. 
 
 Priebus, who was brought on by the outsider President in large part because of his Washington relationships, also wound up carrying a hefty share of the blame for the White House's legislative stumbles, including the latest failure to pass a health care replacement bill. 
 
 Rumors of infighting among Trump's staff eventually devolved into all-out warfare, bursting dramatically into the open late Thursday with a vulgar screed from incoming communications director Anthony Scaramucci. 
 
 Priebus also lacked strong support from key members of Trump's inner circle. Two sources familiar with the situation said Trump's family -- including daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner, among the President's most trusted advisers -- had lost faith in Priebus. One of those sources says Trump's kin urged the President to finally execute a long-pondered shake-up. 
 
 White House chief strategist Steve Bannon is expected to stay, at least for now, sources told CNN. The President has sounded out people recently about whether to keep Bannon, including some conservatives who convinced Trump that getting rid of Bannon would damage the President with his base, a person familiar with the conversation told CNN. One of those conservative voices was Rep. Mark Meadows, the chair of the House Freedom Caucus, who met with the President at the White House on Friday, a source familiar with the discussion said. 
 
 Priebus, who had traveled with Trump to Long Island for an event on gang violence, was seated inside a Secret Service van on the tarmac when the message came down. His vehicle split away from the motorcade and departed for Washington before Trump himself got off the plane. 
 
 New York Rep. Peter King, who traveled with Priebus and Trump to Long Island, said there was no hint of the impending shake-up during the flight, recalling Priebus' "poker face" aboard Air Force One. 
 
 Later, the outed chief of staff told CNN he had offered his resignation on Thursday. 
 
 "I think General (John) Kelly is a brilliant pick," Priebus said in the interview, conducted from the White House Roosevelt Room. "We'll be working on a transition here for a couple weeks together with General Kelly starting on Monday morning. So this is not like a situation where there are a bunch of ill will feelings." 
 
 JUST WATCHED Reince Priebus' interview with Wolf (full) Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Reince Priebus' interview with Wolf (full) 15:32 
 
 Kelly takes over 
 
 Trump sent a message of thanks to Priebus after his initial announcement, and told reporters at the air base that Priebus was a "good man." 
 
 "John Kelly will do a fantastic job," Trump told reporters. "General Kelly has been a star, done an incredible job thus far, respected by everybody. He's a great great American. Reince is a good man." 
 
 Kelly is due to begin his tenure as Trump's chief of staff on Monday when he'll participate in a meeting of Trump's cabinet, according to White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Conversations between Trump and Kelly about the role began two weeks ago, Sanders said. 
 
 Trump tapped Kelly after last November's election to run his Department of Homeland Security, a position that put Kelly in charge of the administration's policies on issues including immigration, cybersecurity, countering domestic terrorism and aviation security. 
 
 A Marine, Kelly served in the military for nearly five decades and served in positions including chief of Southern Command and senior assistant to the secretary of defense. He also worked as a legislative liaison to Congress and served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. His son, Robert Michael Kelly, was killed in combat in Afghanistan in 2010. 
 
 Unusual White House power structure 
 
 Priebus' 189-day tenure as chief of staff is the shortest in modern presidential history, according to David Cohen, a University of Akron professor who studies the position. 
 
 The former Republican National Committee chairman faced a difficult task from the outset as he attempted to wrangle a hodgepodge of rival staff factions divided by ideology and allegiance, his influence supplanted by several other top advisers -- including the President's own kin -- who reported directly to Trump and not to the chief of staff. 
 
 Priebus' appointment was announced alongside Bannon's, the former Breitbart editor in chief who was appointed chief strategist. The President's son-in-law Jared Kushner was named senior adviser and soon thereafter his wife -- the President's eldest daughter -- Ivanka Trump was as well. 
 
 JUST WATCHED Trump: John Kelly will do a fantastic job Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Trump: John Kelly will do a fantastic job 00:46 
 
 Week of drama with Scaramucci 
 
 But it was the appointment of Scaramucci to communications director last Friday that set off Priebus' final unraveling. Within days of his appointment, Scaramucci, who was added to the roster of top aides who circumvent the chief of staff and report directly to the President, took to the airwaves and suggested Priebus was responsible for leaks coming out of the White House. He leveled those charges on CNN moments after speaking with Trump. 
 
 Priebus had worked against Scaramucci joining the administration when the New York hedge fund manager was first considered for a post and, while the two attempted to put on a show of unity in Scaramucci's first days at the White House, it quickly became clear the two men would continue to be at odds with each other. 
 
 The rivalry came to an explosive head on Thursday evening, when vulgar comments Scaramucci made about Priebus were published in the New Yorker. 
 
 Scaramucci called Priebus a "paranoid schizophrenic, a paranoiac," and offered no apology. Trump did not defend his top aide against the remarks. 
 
 In his CNN interview, Priebus repeatedly declined to respond to the comments. 
 
 "I'm not going to get into this personal stuff," he said. 
 
 Republican Party stalwart 
 
 Priebus, a Wisconsin native, joined the administration as chief of staff after a nearly six-year tenure as chairman of the RNC, the final months of which he spent in a dual role as a top adviser to Trump's campaign. 
 
 Priebus was tapped for the post at the urging of top congressional Republicans -- including House Speaker Paul Ryan, a fellow Wisconsinite and close friend -- who advised Trump that he needed a Washington insider to help him shepherd his legislative agenda. 
 
 That left Priebus with the blame for many of the administration's legislative stumbles, including the arduous attempts at passing a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare -- which Priebus had advised Trump to make his first legislative priority, promising him swift victory. 
 
 On Friday, Ryan was not given a heads-up about the announcement. 
 
 In a statement, the speaker said Priebus "has left it all out on the field, for our party and our country." 
 
 The pick was unexpected for many in the Trump campaign who saw Priebus as the embodiment of the Washington Republican establishment Trump had defeated in the primaries, and Trump and Priebus did not always see eye-to eye. 
 
 Still, Priebus helped Trump bridge the divide with many establishment Republicans during the general election and into Trump's tenure as president, serving as a key bridge between the outsider President and the insider politics he found himself at the center of. 
 
 Priebus is just the latest former RNC official to leave the administration, following the departure of White House press secretary Sean Spicer -- who resigned in protest over Scaramucci's hire -- and the ouster of deputy chief of staff Katie Walsh, a key Priebus ally who exited the administration after just two months on the job. 
 
 This story is breaking and will be updated.
– Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci wasn't on the job for long—but it was long enough to be taken in by an email prankster who impersonated other officials. In emails to Scaramucci, the prankster pretended to be Reince Priebus and may have escalated tensions between the two men, the Guardian reports. After Priebus was fired as White House chief of staff, his impersonator told Scaramucci: "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." Scaramucci replied: "You know what you did. We all do. Even today. But rest assured we were prepared. A Man would apologize." "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," the fake Priebus wrote. The real Scaramucci replied: "Read Shakespeare. Particularly Othello ... I know what you did. No more replies from me." In other emails, the prankster—who describes himself as a "lazy anarchist" and uses the Twitter handle @SINON_REBORN—convinces Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert he is Jared Kushner, convinces Scaramucci that he is Ambassador to Russia-designate Jon Huntsman Jr., and convinces Huntsman that he is Eric Trump, CNN reports. The White House says it is investigating.