CNN analyst Josh Campbell said on Sunday that he now believes departing Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen authored the now-infamous New York Times op-ed criticizing President Donald Trump.
Referencing his own training as an investigator, Campbell suggested that prolific use of commas and em dashes in Nielsen’s resignation letter reflected a striking similarity to the NYT op-ed.
As a trained investigator, I’m just going to go on record now saying that anonymous NYT op-ed was LOADED with commas and em dashes.
And so is this resignation letter. https://t.co/6KM1huiO0i https://t.co/GTdYRzumSd
— Josh Campbell (@joshscampbell) April 7, 2019
Campbell later argued that Nielsen’s “style and cadence” bore a resemblance to that of the NYT piece — and included several words that also appeared in both, such as “historic,” “thwart,” “discourse” and “safer.”
I might be wrong, but the style and cadence…
Nielsen: “And we have ramped up security measures…”
Anonymous NYT op-ed writer: “And we are trying to do what’s right…”
And don’t even get me started on the use of “historic,” “thwart,” “discourse,” and “safer”… ???? https://t.co/VS2RmQolnJ
— Josh Campbell (@joshscampbell) April 7, 2019
Campbell had floated a possible connection between Nielsen and the op-ed in September of 2018 as well.
Merely an observation: Looking at the op-ed and past speeches, the DHS Secretary uses “Or” to start sentences (which is weird) & loves hyphenated words. Her statement says she doesn’t spend time on “anonymous and false” opinion pieces, but what about “anonymous and true” ones?????
— Josh Campbell (@joshscampbell) September 6, 2018
Others in the media had made the case that former Director of National Intelligence Dan Coates, Vice President Mike Pence, First Lady Melania Trump or First Daughter Ivanka Trump wrote it. (RELATED: Without Any Evidence, Members Of The Media Speculate Openly About Anonymous NYT Writer)
No one has come forward to claim the op-ed, which argued that Trump was essentially a loose cannon, only tethered to reality by the “adults in the room” who would make sure that the administration did the right thing.
“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 author explained.