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Must-read story about Thompson shaking up his (unannounced) campaign. Townhall.com has the story here. Thompson didn't truly fire his top aid, but I love this image of the Donald, "You're fired!"

Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson is shaking up his still-unofficial campaign, replacing his top aide with a former Michigan senator and a veteran Florida strategist.

The shake-up comes amid consternation inside the campaign about the active role played by Thompson's wife, Jeri, a lawyer, media consultant and former Republican National Committee official.

Acting campaign manager Tom Collamore will still advise Thompson, but his presidential operation will be run by the duo of former senator and energy secretary Spencer Abraham and a Florida GOP strategist, Randy Enright, according to Rozett.

He has been dogged by questions in recent weeks about lobbying work in 1991 for a family planning group that was seeking to relax an abortion counseling rule, and the changing explanations from his campaign.

A review of the Nixon tapes and other transcripts showed that Thompson had alerted the White House of the investigators' discovery. The 1970s era material also showed that President Nixon and his top aides viewed Thompson as a willing, if not too bright, ally.

His wife, Jeri Kehn Thompson, 40, worked as a political media consultant at a lobbying firm, Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, and McPherson and Hand. Before that she worked for the Senate Republican Conference and the RNC.

Republicans familiar with the Thompson circle said she is an influential figure and that her role has been a cause of concern for some operatives signing on to the fledgling exploratory campaign.

Update: quotes from Mark Ambinger at the Atlantic ONLINE:

The Associated Press reports this afternoon that Ex-Sen. Fred Thompson has replaced his would-be campaign manager, Thomas J. Collamore, with former Sen. Spence Abraham and political adviser Randy Enwright's . No explanation was provided; Collamore will remain an adviser.

I cannot as of yet advance the story, and I do not know the circumstances behind the change. When Collamore was brought aboard, he was described to me as the "campaign manager in waiting." That suggests that either his desire to slog through a campaign changed or his relationship with the candidate did.

The star in Thompson's orbit is his wife Jeri, a former RNC official who has given no interviews since Thompson began to speculate about a run. Jeri Thompson is his most ardent supporter and Thompson associates credit her with encouraging him to run. Thompson is said to trust her judgment explicitly. Others, particularly some of the newer advisers and allies, are wary.

Some of Thompson's supporters-in-waiting worry that his delay in entering the race cuts off avenues of support and fuels speculation that reinforces the negative parts of Thompson's reputation. He recently lost a key potential social conservative endorsement to Mitt Romney -- the Judicial Confirmation Network's Wendy Long.

The news today will reinforce doubts about whether Thompson is ready to run a real campaign.

I'm learing some new and interesting things about Fred's wife. I didn't know she had such a history of political involvement. It sounds like she's also a somewhat polarizing figure within the campaign. Interesting.