Two of Rob Ford’s senior staffers, including his press secretary, have quit

Two of Rob Ford’s senior staffers, including his press secretary, have quit

Only four days after the mayor’s chief of staff Mark Towhey was fired, two more of Rob Ford’s close advisors have quit. The departures this afternoon of press secretary George Christopoulos and his assistant Isaac Ransom leave Ford with just one senior staffer, acting chief of staff Earl Provost—and questions are already swirling about how much longer he’ll stick around. Both staffers reportedly left “on principle,” though more specific details on what exactly led them to resign are still scarce. (Former Ford press secretary Adrienne Batra’latest column about the mayor’s unwillingness to listen to advice may provide some clues.) Ford is expected to deliver a statement shortly.

UPDATE: Below, the full text of the statement issued by the mayor’s office.

Effective immediately, George Christopoulos and Isaac Ransom are no longer employed in the Office of the Mayor.
The Mayor thanks both George and Isaac for their valuable contributions and wishes them the best in their future endeavours.
Sunny Petrujkic will be the interim Press Secretary until further notice.

UPDATE: Ford emerged from his office shortly after 3 p.m. to speak to the media gathered outside. He apologized for calling reporters “maggots” on his radio show Sunday and confirmed that Christopoulos and Ransom “decided to go into a different avenue.” He also named Doug Ford’s executive assistant Amin Massoudi as his communications director. See here for a full transcript of Ford’s comments.