Trump officials deny writing op-ed
‘Things will get worse before they get better’
WASHINGTON • Pushing back against explosive reports his own administration is conspiring against him, President Donald Trump lashed out Thursday against the anonymous senior official who wrote a New York Times opinion piece claiming to be part of a “resistance” working “from within” to thwart his most dangerous impulses. Washington was consumed by a wild guessing game as to the identity of the writer, and swift denials of involvement came from top administration officials, including from Vice-President Mike Pence’s office, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Dan Coats, director of national intelligence, and other Cabinet members. Trump was furious, tweeting Thursday morning that “The Deep State and the Left, and their vehicle, the Fake News Media, are going Crazy - & they don’t know what to do.”
On Wednesday night, the president tweeted a demand that if “the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called on the “coward” who wrote the piece to “do the right thing and resign.”
In a “House of Cards”style plot twist in an already over-the-top administration, Trump allies and political insiders scrambled to unmask the writer. But the op-ed also brought to light questions that have been whispered in Washington for more than a year: Is Trump truly in charge? And could a divided executive branch pose a danger to the country? Former CIA director John Brennan, a fierce Trump critic, called the op-ed “active insubordination ... born out of loyalty to the country.” “This is not sustainable to have an executive branch where individuals are not following the orders of the chief executive,” Brennan told NBC’s “Today” show. “I do think things will get worse before they get better. I don’t know how Donald Trump is going to react to this. A wounded lion is a very dangerous animal, and I think Donald Trump is wounded.”
First lady Melania Trump also weighed in, praising the free press as “important to our democracy” before attacking the writer, saying “you are not protecting this country, you are sabotaging it with your cowardly actions.” Down Pennsylvania Avenue, House Speaker Paul Ryan said he did not know of any role Congress would have to investigate the identity of the author, though Republican Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina, a Trump ally, said the legislative body could take part. “Nothing in this town stays secret forever, and so ultimately I do think we will find out who is the author,” Meadows said.