Fire And Fury author hits back at book’s critics
MICHAEL Wolff has defended his controversial book on Donald’s Trump’s presidency saying that he is bringing to life ‘what I saw and what I heard’ in the White House.
Speaking yesterday to Seán O’Rourke on RTÉ Radio 1, the American author of Fire And Fury: Inside The Trump White House hit back at his own critics who have questioned the provenance of his sources.
‘I conduct myself the same way every journalist conducts him or herself,’ he said. ‘I take notes, I use tapes when that’s possible and appropriate and so I do have this large cache of tapes of interviews with many, many people, including the people closest to the president.’
Wolff highlighted the need to protect his White House sources saying to get such access ‘you have to promise your sources a great deal of protection, if not complete anonymity’.
O’Rourke put to the American a question posed by Simon Jenkins, former editor of the London Times: ‘I trust Wolff’s integrity but should I trust him to have checked those who pass him malicious gossip merely because I like the gossip?’
Defending his sources, Mr Wolff replied: ‘In some instances, yes, they said them directly to me… most instances… other instances it was no secret what they felt and what they believe. In other instances it’s been covered by other media.’
He went on to confirm ‘I have tapes… of many people who I absolutely have sworn to protect. I have tapes with people who are on the record’.
Mr Wolff described the ‘Washington press corps’ as ‘gobsmacked’, ‘confused’ and ‘possibly a little resentful about this outsider coming in and taking the story’. Distancing himself from the pack, he added: ‘I don’t do what they do. I don’t hang out with them.’