Several officials in President Donald Trump’s Cabinet on Thursday denied that they were the “senior administration official” behind a New York Times op-ed mocking the President and describing widespread internal efforts to blunt his decisions.
More than a half-dozen high-ranking officials issued statements before noon distancing themselves from the op-ed, titled “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration.”
According to CNN, the author remained anonymous, prompting furious speculation over who penned the piece and forcing officials otherwise out of the spotlight to issue public denials.
“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,” said Jarrod Agen, communications director for Vice President Pence.
“Our office is above such amateur acts,” he added.
Meanwhile, internet hawks noticed the use of the word “lodestar” in the op-ed, adding that in multiple instances over the past few years the vice president has used the uncommon word in his speeches.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a similarly sharp denial to reporters during a trip to India, blasting the Times for publishing the words of a “disgruntled, deceptive bad actor.”
“It shouldn’t surprise anyone that The New York Times, a liberal newspaper that has attacked this administration relentlessly, chose to print such a piece,” he said.
“And I’ll answer your other question directly, because I know someone will say, gosh, he didn’t answer the question,” Pompeo added. “It’s not mine.”
Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, who has had public differences with Trump over the severity of foreign efforts to interfere in U.S. elections, quashed speculation that he was behind the piece.
“From the beginning of our tenure, we have insisted that the entire [intelligence community] remain focused on our mission to provide the President and policymakers with the best intelligence possible,” Coats said in a statement.
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