One after another, President Donald Trump’s top lieutenants stepped forward Thursday to declare, “Not me.”
They lined up to deny writing an anonymous New York Times opinion piece purportedly submitted by a senior administration member working as the “resistance” to “reckless decisions” by Trump.
By email, by tweet and on camera, the denials paraded in from Cabinet-level officials — and even Vice President Mike Pence — apparently crafted for an audience of one, seated in the Oval Office. Senior officials in key national security and economic policy roles charged the article’s writer with cowardice, disloyalty and acting against America’s interests in harsh terms that mimicked the president’s own words.
Trump was incensed about the column, calling around to confidants to vent about the author, solicit guesses as to his or her identity and fume that a “deep state” within the administration was conspiring against him. He ordered aides to unmask the writer, and issued an extraordinary demand that the newspaper reveal the author to the government.
For those of you asking for the identity of the anonymous coward: pic.twitter.com/RpWYPHa6To
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) September 6, 2018
As striking as the essay was the long list of officials who plausibly could have been its author. Many have privately shared some of the article’s same concerns about Trump with colleagues, friends and reporters.
With such a wide circle of potential suspicion, Trump’s men and women felt they had no choice but to speak out. The denials and condemnations came in from far and wide: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis denied authorship on a visit to India; Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke chimed in from American Samoa. In Washington, the claims of “not me” echoed from Vice President Pence’s office, from Energy Secretary Rick Perry, from Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman from Dan Coats, director of national intelligence, and other Cabinet members.
The author professed to be a member of that same inner circle. So could the denials be trusted? There was no surefire way to know, and that only deepened the president’s frustrations.
On Twitter, Trump charged “The Deep State and the Left, and their vehicle, the Fake News Media, are going Crazy – & they don’t know what to do.”
White House officials did not respond to requests to elaborate on Trump’s call for the writer to be turned over to the government or on the unsupported national security grounds of his demand. Some who agreed with the writer’s points suggested the president’s reaction actually confirmed the author’s concerns.
Rudy Giuliani, the president’s attorney, suggested that it “would be appropriate” for Trump to ask for a formal investigation into the identity of the op-ed author.
“Let’s assume it’s a person with a security clearance. If they feel writing this is appropriate, maybe they feel it would be appropriate to disclose national security secrets, too. That person should be found out and stopped,” Giuliani said.
As the initial scramble to unmask the writer proved fruitless, attention turned to the questions the article raised, which have been whispered in Washington for more than a year: Is Trump truly in charge, and could a divided executive branch pose a danger to the country?
Former CIA Director John Brennan, a fierce Trump critic, called the op-ed “active insubordination … born out of loyalty to the country.”
“This is not sustainable to have an executive branch where individuals are not following the orders of the chief executive,” Brennan told NBC’s “Today” show. “I don’t know how Donald Trump is going to react to this. A wounded lion is a very dangerous animal, and I think Donald Trump is wounded.”
The anonymous author, claiming to be part of the resistance “working diligently from within” the administration, said, “Many Trump appointees have vowed to do what we can to preserve our democratic institutions while thwarting Mr. Trump’s more misguided impulses until he is out of office.”
“It may be cold comfort in this chaotic era, but Americans should know that there are adults in the room,” the author continued. “We fully recognize what is happening. And we are trying to do what’s right even when Donald Trump won’t.”
First lady Melania Trump issued a statement backing her husband. She praised the free press as “important to our democracy” but assailed the writer, saying, “You are not protecting this country, you are sabotaging it with your cowardly actions.”
The Beltway guessing game seeped into the White House, as current and former staffers traded calls and texts trying to figure out who could have written the piece, some turning to reporters and asking them for clues.
In a rare step, Pence’s communications director Jarrod Agen tweeted early Thursday that “The Vice President puts his name on his Op-Eds. The @nytimes should be ashamed and so should the person who wrote the false, illogical, and gutless op-ed. Our office is above such amateur acts.”
With many prominent administration members delivering on-the-record denials, the focus could now fall on other senior aides to do the same, with questions raised about those who stay silent.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tried to head off reporters’ inquiries of Trump officials, tweeting that the questions should be aimed at the Times, which she said was “complicit in this deceitful act.”
The anonymous author wrote that where Trump has had successes, they have come “despite — not because of — the president’s leadership style, which is impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective.”
Down Pennsylvania Avenue, House Speaker Paul Ryan said he did not know of any role Congress would have to investigate, though Republican Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina, a Trump ally, said the legislative body could take part.
“Nothing in this town stays secret forever, and so ultimately I do think we will find out who is the author,” he said.
The writer said Trump aides are aware of the president’s faults and “many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations. I would know. I am one of them.”
Among the officials who have spoken out:
“The Vice President puts his name on his Op-Eds. The @nytimes should be ashamed and so should the person who wrote the false, illogical, and gutless op-ed. Our office is above such amateur acts.” — tweet from Jarrod Agen, communications director for Vice President Mike Pence.
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“@stevenmnuchin1 is honored to serve @POTUS & the American people. He feels it was irresponsible for @nytimes to print this anonymous piece. Now, dignified public servants are forced to deny being the source. It is laughable to think this could come from the Secretary.” — tweet from Tony Sayegh, spokesman for Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
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“It’s not mine.” — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, speaking at a news conference in India.
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“No.” — U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley, responding to a shouted question on whether she was the anonymous author.
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“Speculation that The New York Times op-ed was written by me or my Principal Deputy is patently false. We did not. From the beginning of our tenure, we have insisted that the entire IC remain focused on our mission to provide the President and policymakers with the best intelligence possible.” — statement by Dan Coats, director of national intelligence.
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“I did not write and am thoroughly appalled by this op-ed. I couldn’t be prouder of our work at Commerce and of @POTUS.” — tweet by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.
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“I am not the author of the New York Times OpEd, nor do I agree with its characterizations. Hiding behind anonymity and smearing the President of the United States does not make you an ‘unsung hero’, it makes you a coward, unworthy of serving this Nation.” — tweet by Energy Secretary Rick Perry.
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“It was not his op-ed.” — Thomas Crosson, spokesman for Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.
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“Secretary Nielsen is focused on leading the men and women of DHS and protecting the homeland – not writing anonymous and false opinion pieces for the New York Times. These types of political attacks are beneath the Secretary and the Department’s mission.” — Tyler Houlton, press secretary for Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.
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“It was not him.” — Caitlin Oakley, spokeswoman for Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.
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“He didn’t write it. … Acting Administrator Wheeler supports President Trump 100% and is honored to serve in his cabinet, he also believes whoever wrote the op-ed should resign.” — John Konkus, spokesman for Andrew Wheeler, the acting administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
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“Secretary DeVos is not a Washington insider and does not play Washington insider games. She has the courage of her convictions and signs her opinions. She is not the author.” — Liz Hill, spokeswoman for Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
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“Neither Secretary Wilkie nor anyone else at VA wrote the op-ed.” — Curt Cashour, spokesman for Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie.
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“The Secretary didn’t write the op-ed.” — Raffi Williams, spokesman for Housing Secretary Ben Carson.
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“No to all of your questions.” — Michawn Rich, spokeswoman for Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, when asked whether Perdue had any role in the column or knew who wrote it.
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When asked if the op-ed writer was Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a Justice Department spokesman referred The Associated Press to White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ Thursday statement in which she calls the writer an “anonymous coward” and “gutless loser” and says the people who work for the president “stand united together and fully support” him.
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“No.” — White House counsel Don McGahn, when asked outside the Supreme Court confirmation hearing for Brett Kavanaugh if he wrote the op-ed.
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“For those who have inquired, this is to confirm that Secretary Chao is not the author of the op-ed.” — Department of Transportation communications office on Secretary Elaine Chao.
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“Amb Huntsman: Come to find, when you’re serving as the U.S. envoy in Moscow, you’re an easy target on all sides. Anything sent out by me would have carried my name. An early political lesson I learned: never send an anonymous op-ed.” — tweet from Andrea Kalan, spokeswoman at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, quoting U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman.
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“I am not author of the anonymous @nytimes op-ed. @realDonaldTrump has a clear governing vision for the country and his record of results is remarkable. I am proud to serve as a member of President Trump’s @Cabinet to advocate on behalf of America’s 30 million small businesses.” — tweet from Linda McMahon, administrator of the Small Business Administration.
(AP)
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5 Responses
Wonder why he doesnt suspect the paper for making the whole thing up just to achieve the chaos it has succeeded in creating
One has to wonder if the newspaper article in question was made up by a non-White House staffer (and least not a current staffer) and run by the paper for no other reason than to disrupt the administration not only from without but also from within by sewing mistrust.
I don’t wonder. The New York Times is highly credible, and the Times said the author was a senior administration official. If the article were truly made up, and Trump truly believed that it was made up, why would Trump be in a rage about it? Why would he even care about it? I expect the author will be identified in a week or so. Then what? Will Trump supporters change their minds about him, or change their minds about his ability to hire “the best people”? Will his support go lower among his base? It is already eroding, and I expect it to go lower.
It took many years to figure out who Deep Throat was,Felt was only identified in 2005.
> huju
“Why would he even care about it? ” Because (using this line of argument) perception is everything, and this is a ploy to sway voters in the coming mid-terms, which it might do no matter how fake the article is.
“the Times said the author was a senior administration official”
Even the Times (on another web site) admits the person in question was only contacted through an intermediary (also not named) and as such, the truth seems to be that even the Times does not “really” know “personally” how authentic this person really is.
One must not forget, for example, Dan Rather who had to leave CBS after 44 years because he fell for fake news (in his case, fake documents). And on sees today in the news the politicians who have currently fallen for imposters pretending to be someone else.