Denials Roll In From Top Admin Officials On Op-Ed

Multiple top officials in the Trump administration are denying being the author of a recent anonymous New York Times op-ed disparaging the president.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, Secretary of Homeland Security Kirsten Nielsen, Secretary of Defense James Mattis, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson and Vice President Mike Pence have all denied authorship on the record.

“It may be cold comfort in this chaotic era, but Americans should know that there are adults in the room. We fully recognize what is happening. And we are trying to do what’s right even when Donald Trump won’t,” the anonymous official said.

The official described a cabal of administration officials actively circumventing the president’s daily desires. The op-ed comes just as excerpts from Bob Woodward’s new book on the administration are being released, showing a similar culture among senior aides who do not think highly of the president and work to temper his behavior.

Vice Presidential communications director Jarrod Agen said on twitter amid speculation that it was his office, “The Vice President puts his name on his Op-Eds. The [nytimes] should be ashamed and so should the person who wrote the false, illogical, and gutless op-ed. Our office is above such amateur acts.”

The Vice President puts his name on his Op-Eds. The @nytimes should be ashamed and so should the person who wrote the false, illogical, and gutless op-ed. Our office is above such amateur acts.

— Jarrod Agen (@VPComDir) September 6, 2018

“It’s not mine,” Pompeo said while on a visit to India, adding “it shouldn’t surprise anyone that The New York Times, a liberal newspaper that has attacked this administration relentlessly, chose to print such a piece.”

“Speculation that The New York Times op-ed was written by me or my Principal Deputy is patently false. We did not,” Coats said.

A spokesperson for Nielsen issued a similar statement, saying, “Secretary Nielsen is focused on leading the men and women of DHS and protecting the homeland – not writing anonymous and false opinion pieces for the New York Times.”

Chief Pentagon Spokesperson Dana White denied Mattis’s authorship of the op-ed to reporters Thursday saying “it was not his op-ed.”