Earlier this month, The New York Times published a highly controversial anonymous op-ed supposedly written by a senior White House Official. The author describes the president as having “anti-democratic” impulses, and spoke about “early whispers” of a possible plan by White House Cabinet members to boot Trump out of office via the 25th Amendment.
The New York Times has been highly criticized by readers for publishing the piece. Donald Trump has called for The New York Times to identify the author. He called the piece a “gutless editorial” and said that it amounts to “treason.” White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called the Op-Ed “a pathetic, reckless, and selfish” editorial. Even though The New York Times refuses to identify the author, President Trump has vowed to do so.
Trump has said that he believes that the author of the piece could be a threat to national security.
“If the person has a high-level security clearance, I don’t want him in those meetings,” said Trump during an interview with reporters aboard Air Force One.
Trump added that he believes that Attorney General Jeff Sessions should open an investigation to determine who is the writer of the piece. Trump also said that he is considering bringing legal action against The New York Times for irresponsibly publishing the piece.
Steve Bannon, who left the White House last year, told Fox News that he believes that the anonymous op-ed was not written by any one person, but instead by a group of six to a dozen members of the Trump Administration. Bannon believes that there are too many “voices” represented in the Op-Ed for it to have been written by one person. The former White House official urged President Trump to find out who wrote the piece.
Trump appears to have taken that advice. Although the president has not identified the author(s) of the piece, he said that he has narrowed it down to four or five people that he doesn’t like or respect. Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s advisor, told CNN that she doesn’t think that the piece was written by a White House Official, but rather by someone who serves a national security role.
Trump has predicted that the person’s identity would soon become known, and that people would think that it is disgusting when they learn who is behind the piece. Many members of the White House Administration have publicly come out to say that they did not write the piece. Those who deny involvement include Vice President Mike Pence, Defense Secretary James Mathis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Former Trump campaign aid Michael Caputo said that he thinks that the actual author is a ghostwriter. The aide also said that he believes that the person is a woman. Caputo said that he is fairly certain that he knows who wrote the piece, and that the person is one of the ones who said that they didn’t write it. The former aid refuses to identify the person, saying that his lawyer advised him not to do so.
~ Liberty Planet
