What a fun place the White House must have been today. Imagine the finger-pointing and blame-gaming as everyone thinks they know the author of the bombshell opinion piece in the New York Times. Talk about a whodunit. The only thing we know for sure is who says they didn’t write it. Here’s what NBC News found:
Senior officials who deny writing NYT op-ed: https://t.co/29MHrrrt31
• Pence
• Pompeo
• Coats
• Nielsen
• Mattis
• Mulvaney
• Carson
• Mnuchin
• Wilkie
• Acosta
• Haspel
• Conway
• Wheeler
• Perdue
• McMahon
• Perry
• Ross
• McGahn
• Chao
• Huntsman— NBC News (@NBCNews) September 6, 2018
Meanwhile, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders (who hasn’t held a briefing in more than two weeks) is encouraging people to call the New York Times to ask them.
Apparently, some people have asked Congress to investigate the author’s identity as well. But Speaker of the House Paul Ryan says that isn’t in the plans. USA Today reports:
Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, replied, “Not that I know of,” when asked by a reporter if Congress should try to identify the anonymous author of the essay, who was described by The New York Times as a senior administration official.
However, Ryan said the author was “living in dishonesty” and should consider whether they want to stay in their role. “That doesn’t help the president. So if you’re not interested in helping the president, you shouldn’t work for the president, as far as I’m concerned,” he said.
Who needs Congress though when you have lie detectors. That’s Senator Rand Paul’s idea.
Sen. Rand Paul, one of Trump's biggest allies in Washington, says anyone with a security clearance who works in the White House should take lie detector test to figure out who is "talking to the media against the policy of the White House."
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) September 6, 2018
As the country (and the White House) ponder who may have penned the piece, we get a rare condemnation from the first lady.
BREAKING: First Lady Melania Trump on anonymous NYT op-ed: pic.twitter.com/rNt5ADc3HS
— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) September 6, 2018
But please take note of this story from the Wall Street Journal in 1974. Retired FBI agent Mark Felt denied being the Watergate source for Woodward and Bernstein. It was more than 30 years later before Felt finally admitted he was in fact “Deep Throat.”
Front page @wsj, 25 June 1974, 10 days after publication date of 'All the President's Men' @jackshafer pic.twitter.com/WqlduLMdp1
— W. Joseph Campbell (@wjosephcampbell) September 6, 2018