COVERT OP(-ED)
Trump wants to sic Sessions on unknown author
President Trump said Friday that he wants Attorney General Jeff Sessions to flush out the identity of the author of an unflattering column penned by an anonymous administration official.
“I think it is national security. I would say Jeff should be investigating who the author of that piece is because I really believe it is national security,” the president told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to a campaign appearance in Fargo, ND.
“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.”
If the official has a highlevel security clearance, Trump said: “I don’t want him in those meetings.”
The Justice Department had no immediate comment on the op-ed piece published Wednesday in The New York Times and it’s unclear what, if any, laws would apply to warrant a federal investigation.
The Times issued a statement saying it was confident the Justice Department “would not participate in such a blatant abuse of government power.”
Trump in the past has routinely castigated Sessions. He’s called on the attorney general to investigate Hillary Clinton and the Democrats and protect himself and allegedly crooked GOP lawmakers.
Trump also said he was looking into potentially taking legal action against the “Failing New York Times.”
The column painted a portrait of an administration mired in chaos and confusion — charges that Trump denied.
“So they take one person out of thousands,” Trump said in an interview with Pete Hegseth of “Fox & Friends” Thursday night.
“We have a lot of love in the administration. The White House is truly, as you would say, a well-oiled machine. It is working so well.”
The commander in chief called the op-ed an act of “treason” and speculated that a “deep state person” could be behind it.
The president also disputed anonymous claims in Bob Woodward’s book “Fear: Trump in the White House” that he called Sessions “mentally retarded” and a “dumb Southerner.”
“I don’t talk the way I am quoted,” he said.