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NYT’s David Sanger Says Anonymous Op-Ed Doesn’t Pose A Security Risk Because It Didn’t Leak Classified Info

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Nick Givas Media And Politics Reporter
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New York Times chief Washington correspondent David Sanger said the anonymous White House official who criticized President Donald Trump in a Wednesday op-ed didn’t compromise national security, because he didn’t leak classified information.

Sanger claimed on CNN’s “New Day” Friday that the contents of the op-ed are common knowledge around Washington and are accurately reported on by CNN and other networks. He also accused Trump of wallowing in self-denial. (RELATED: CNN’s Chris Cuomo Asks Where NYT Op-Ed Writer Has Been All This Time)

“It is in part [self-denial] because the content of the op-ed, which is completely consistent with what all of us hear each day from the West Wing,” Sanger said. “What you’ve seen in stories in The Times and The Post and he heard here on CNN — it’s all a pretty consistent story.”

WATCH:

Sanger said the article doesn’t pose a national security threat because it didn’t reveal any classified documents or information and only contained accounts of basic encounters with the president. He also denied knowing the identity of the op-ed author.

“[Trump] said this was a national security issue — the publication of the op-ed. Now I’m on the news side, I have no idea who wrote the op-ed. News and editorial as you’ve heard many times here, are completely separate. But the fact of the matter is, whoever wrote the op-ed did not reveal a national security secret, did not reveal classified information,” Sanger said.

“That person, he or she, basically wrote that their interactions with the president and the president’s behavior posed an issue that all of his aides are seeking to contain. Now I’m not quite sure what the treason issue is there. I’m certainly not sure what the national security revelation is.”

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