Trump calls on Sessions to find author of New York Times op-ed
President Donald Trump has urged the US Justice Department to investigate the New York Times after it published an anonymous article on Wednesday, criticizing his policies and questioning his fitness for office.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, the president also said he might take action against the Times, whose shares dipped after his comments were made public.
“We’re going to see. I’m looking at that right now,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions “should be investigating who the author of that piece was because I really believe it’s national security,” he added.
A Justice Department spokeswoman said the department does not confirm or deny news of any probe.
The Times issued a statement, noting it was confident the Justice Department "would not participate in such a blatant abuse of government power."
"The President's threats both underscore why we must safeguard the identity of the writer of this op-ed and serve as a reminder of the importance of a free and independent press to American democracy."
According to the Times’ op-ed, many senior members of the Trump administration are so alarmed by his "erratic" and "amoral" behavior that they are actively working to undermine him and protect the country from his worst impulses.
The anonymous writer says cabinet members initially considered invoking the 25th Amendment of the US Constitution, which provides for the president's removal if he is "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office."
On Thursday, Trump said that "the latest act of resistance is the op-ed published in the failing New York Times by an anonymous, really an anonymous, gutless coward."
"Nobody knows who the hell he is, or she," he told supporters at a rally in Billings, Montana. "Unidentified deep state operatives who defy voters to push their secret agendas are truly a threat to democracy itself."
Meanwhile, American economist and author Dr. Paul Craig Roberts believes the article was written by the Times itself.
Dr. Roberts, who was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan Administration and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal, made the remarks in an article, titled “I know who the ‘senior official’ is who wrote the NY Times Op-Ed” published on Thursday.
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