Trump wants AG to find Times op-ed writer

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that he wanted Attorney General Jeff Sessions to investigate the source of an anonymous op-ed essay published in The New York Times, intensifying his attack on an article he has characterized as an act of treason.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One as he travelled to Fargo, N.D., Trump said, “I would say Jeff should be investigating who the author of that piece was because I really believe it’s national security.”

Trump said he was also considering action against The Times, though he did not elaborate.

The president has raged against the essay since The Times published it Wednesday afternoon. His latest remarks indicate that he wants to use the Justice Department to root out the source of the op-ed, which described some administration officials in a state of near mutiny against a president they view as dangerous and untethered from reality.

“We’re going to take a look at what he had, what he gave, what he’s talking about, also where he is right now,” Trump said.

A spokesperson said that the Justice Department does not confirm or deny the existence of investigations.

While the president suggested that the anonymous writer was probably not a senior official, he said the person might nonetheless have a security clearance that allowed him or her to attend sensitive meetings on China, Russia or North Korea. “I don’t want him in those meetings,” he said.