WASHINGTON — Pushing back against explosive reports his own administration is conspiring against him, US President Donald Trump lashes out against the anonymous senior official who wrote an opinion piece in The New York Times claiming to be part of a “resistance” working “from within” to thwart the commander-in-chief’s most dangerous impulses.
Washington is consumed by a wild guessing game as to the identity of the author and swift denials of involvement in the op-ed come Thursday from top administration officials, including the office of Vice President Mike Pence, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Hotly debated on Twitter was the author’s use of the word “lodestar,” which pops up frequently in speeches by Pence. Could the anonymous figure be someone in Pence’s orbit? Others argued that the word “lodestar” could have been included to throw people off.
In a rare step, Pence’s communications director Jarrod Agen tweets early Thursday that “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.”
Pompeo, who is in India, denies writing the anonymous opinion piece, saying, “It’s not mine.” He accuses the media of trying to undermine the Trump administration and says he found that “incredibly disturbing.”
— AP
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, left, smiles along with Vice President Mike Pence, as US President Donald Trump speaks with his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta before a bilateral meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House, on August 27, 2018. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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