IS A WHOLE GROUP OF “DEEP THROATS” WORKING IN THE WHITE HOUSE?

…Some people here agree that we have a misguided president

The Times agrees that the White House author needs to remain anonymous.

Well, just as there was an unknown individual referred to as “Deep Throat”, that declared to the Washington Post’s investigative reporters, to “follow the money” in the Watergate scandal, there is apparently another “Deep Throat II” now residing in the White House. 

This new “unknown” individual has been referred to by the New York Times as a “senior official within the White House".  This official is apparently just one of many individuals in the Trump administration that says they are: “actively working to frustrate President Trump’s agenda and his worst inclinations.”

This all came from an op-ed column published in The Times that was from this anonymous White House Senior Official that felt that the American public needed to know that we have a president that “continues to act in a manner that is detrimental to the health of our republic”.

This individual apparently either volunteered to write this column, or it was written by the whole group and this senior individual was chosen or volunteered to offer it to The Times.

Obviously, The Times personnel were aware of who this senior White House official was, and they knew that making the column anonymous would allow this person to remain working in the White House and for him or her to keep “thwarting Mr. Trump’s more misguided impulses until he is out of office.”

“We believe our first duty is to this country,” wrote the unnamed author.

The column drew immediate attention from the news media and obviously, a public rebuke from the president, who called it “gutless” during a ceremony at the White House. A statement from press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders called the column “just another example of the liberal media’s concerted effort to discredit the President.” Trump later tweeted a one-word, all-caps reaction: “TREASON?”

Notably, neither Trump nor White House press secretary denied that it was written by someone in his administration.

The Times column was headlined “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration”, and it was unusual for two reasons. First, it was from someone that was recognizable as a true White House insider.  Second, for The Times, it is extremely rare for a Times op-ed column to be published anonymously.

Newspapers, and The Times in particular, rarely allow people to write opinion pieces without attaching their names. The primary issue is “total transparency” as the readers are entitled to know who is opining.  This is so that they can more fully judge the author’s motives, intentions and possible vested interests.

As an example, The Times, in order to protect a woman from serious gang violence in El Salvador, they did allow the woman to recount her treatment in a US detention facility anonymously.  But that is a very rare exception.

In an unsigned note attached to the column, The Times said it took “the rare step” of publishing the essay at the author’s request. It said his or her identity was known to the editors, but that the writer’s job would be jeopardized by the author's disclosure. The note added: “We believe publishing this essay anonymously is the only way to deliver an important perspective to our readers.”

The Times editorial-page editor, James Bennet, said the newspaper “would not have been able to publish the article if it had not granted anonymity to its author".

“We thought it was an important perspective to get out,” he said. “Our preference is not to publish anonymously and we seldom do it. The question is, do we think the piece was important enough to make an exception? We felt strongly that it was.”

Among the keys from the article, he said, was the writer’s explanation of why he or she was working for the administration, despite deep concerns about the president. “The writer believes in the president’s accomplishment,” said Bennet, “but is very concerned about the president’s mercurial behavior.”

“From the White House to executive branch departments and agencies, senior officials will privately admit their daily disbelief at the commander in chief’s comments and actions. Most are working to insulate their operations from his whims,” the column said.

Of course, as usual for the president, Trump falsely denounced the “failing” New York Times and the news media in general.

“If I weren’t here, I believe the New York Times probably wouldn’t exist,” he said. “And someday when [he’s out of office], hopefully six and a half years from now, the New York Times and CNN will be out of business. There will be nothing to write.”  He added that The Times published “an anonymous editorial — can you believe it? — anonymous, meaning gutless.”

After over 30 years, “Deep Throat” was eventually found out to be a former FBI official, Mark Felt, who unmasked himself in an article in Vanity Fair in 2005.  A similar situation occurred about the identity of the anonymous author of “Primary Colors”.  This was a satirical, best-selling novel and it became a movie based on Bill Clinton’s first presidential campaign.

In 1996, the Washington Post identified a Newsweek columnist and CBS commentator, Mr. Joe Klein, as Primary Colors anonymous author.

I wonder when we will find out who this Deep Throat II is that is working in the Trump White House?

Copyright G.Ater  2018