So, did you hear the one about the guy who trolled top White House officials and convinced the editors of Breitbart that he was Steve Bannon?
Some agency folks may be proud to learn that it was one of their own.
A couple of weeks ago, Wired revealed the name of the self-described “Email Prankster” behind the Twitter account SINON_REBORN: he is designer James Linton. Over the weekend, The Daily Mail also published an exclusive interview naming his employer of the past six years, TBWA\Manchester.
The latter story came after Linton achieved his latest success: convincing high-powered attorney Lisa Bloom that he was former client Harvey Weinstein right after she officially stopped representing him. This thread earned responses not only from Bloom herself but also from former Obama administration communications director Anita Dunn and lawyer Lanny Davis of Clinton-era fame. And all for a mail.com address.
NEW: HARVEY WEINSTEIN, LISA BLOOM & LANNY DAVIS.
Why his legal representation ditched him this weekend.Support https://t.co/KSa1IjkZqZ pic.twitter.com/jGvAwFwWnh
— EMAIL PRANKSTER™ (@SINON_REBORN) October 10, 2017
The number of people Linton has trolled is quite impressive. He convinced the editor of Breitbart to discuss a “conspiracy” involving the “evil” Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, got short-lived White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci to compare a person who he thought was Reince Priebus to Othello, and convinced Kushner’s own lawyer that he was the president’s son-in-law concerned over “adult material” involving “half naked women on a trampoline.”
In his interviews with The Washington Post and The Daily Mail, Linton emphasized how easy it was to fool so many people including Eric Trump, Russian ambassador Jon Huntsman Jr., White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders and homeland security advisor Tom Bossert.
From the Daily Mail piece:
“It’s a bit worrying how easy it is to fool these people; Eric Trump, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Kushner’s lawyer, all highly-paid, powerful people who let their guard down and divulge confidential information. Imagine if I had more sinister intentions. I’m not some hacker sat at his computer at night—I’m just a guy who found an email address online and thought I’d have a laugh.”
Indeed, he simply guessed at these individuals’ email addresses and used the barely-believable mail.com URL.
At any rate, he no longer works for TBWA. According to the Mail, he quit his job at the Manchester office after his bosses suspended him because they (correctly?) guessed that he was trolling at work.
This year i’ve..
Been in rehab
Been hospitalized by rehab
Given up p/script drugs, gambling, alcohol
Prank’d White House
Ended up jobless— EMAIL PRANKSTER™ (@SINON_REBORN) September 22, 2017
…and now he would appreciate a donation.
I’m like you. If you hate self-serving morons doing what the fuck they want, then pls consider supporting me ??✌? https://t.co/KSa1IjkZqZ
— EMAIL PRANKSTER™ (@SINON_REBORN) October 10, 2017
A TBWA spokesperson declined to comment on the case.
UPDATE: Linton didn’t want to speak directly about the time he spent with TBWA, but he did tell us this: “I wish the talented fuckers all the best for the future!”
Very well, then.
(That’s Kushner’s official government headshot, by the way.)