As Washington entered into a whirlwind round of “Who Dunnit” after the New York Times published an anonymous op-ed Wednesday afternoon detailing a resistance-style effort inside the Trump White House to undermine the president’s authority, senior administration officials are now stepping forward to say it wasn’t them.
On Thursday during an overseas visit to India, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denied being the author, telling reporters at an embassy meet-and-greet that it should not be a surprise that a “liberal newspaper” which has “relentlessly attacked” the administration chose to print the opinion piece.
He said that the Times should not have chosen to take the word of a “disgruntled deceptive bad actor” and issued a warning to the person who wrote the piece: “leave.”
“I come from a place where if you’re not in a position to execute the commander’s intent, you have a singular option, that is to leave,” Pompeo said.
Meanwhile, Vice President Mike Pence’s office also denied the president’s number two was behind the piece. Pence’s Deputy Chief of Staff Jarrod Agen plainly tweeted that unlike the author in Wednesday’s article, the vice president “puts his name on his op-eds.”
Agen added that the Times “should be ashamed and so should the person who wrote the false, illogical, and gutless op-ed. Our office is above such amateur acts.”
While speculation continues to run rampant, the president tweeted his thanks to North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un for his “unwavering faith” and later slammed the “the Deep State and the left and their vehicle the fake news media.”
“The Economy is booming like never before, Jobs are at Historic Highs, soon TWO Supreme Court Justices & maybe Declassification to find Additional Corruption. Wow!” he touted.
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