Pompeo denies being author of NYT 'Quiet Resistance' op-ed against Trump
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday confirmed that he was not the author of an anonymous 'Quiet Resistance' op-ed published in the New York Times, calling it "sad."
The column in the NY Times is authored by a senior Trump administration official who described efforts to thwart parts of President Donald Trump's agenda.
"It's not mine," Pompeo said during a trip to New Delhi, India.
"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," AFP quoted Pompeo as saying in New Delhi.
"If it's accurate... they should not... have chosen to take a disgruntled, deceptive bad actor's word for anything and put it in their newspaper. It's sad more than anything else," he told reporters.
He added: "I come from a place where if you're not in a position to execute the commander's intent, you have a singular option, that is to leave. And this person instead, according to the New York Times, chose not only to stay but to undermine what President Trump and this administration are trying to do.
"And I have to tell you, I just, I find the media's efforts in this regard to undermine this administration incredibly disturbing," AFP quoted him as saying.
In the column, the anonymous official asserted that many senior officials in Trump's administration have been working from within to frustrate parts of his agenda to protect the country from his worst impulses
It further said that Trump's own staff see him as a danger to the nation.
In the piece, the official described "early whispers" among members of Trump's Cabinet to take steps to remove him as president, but added they decided against it to avoid a constitutional crisis.
Trump has questioned whether the "gutless" piece, entitled "I am part of the resistance inside the Trump administration", might be treasonous.
Does the so-called “Senior Administration Official” really exist, or is it just the Failing New York Times with another phony source? If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 5, 2018