President Trump: Justice Department should investigate anonymous op-ed author

President Donald Trump called for the Justice Department to investigate the anonymous author of an op-ed depicting a “resistance” inside the government and said he is considering taking legal action against the New York Times for publishing it. The column, published online Sept 5, was written by someone the Times identified only as a senior official in the Trump administration. “We’re going to take a look at what he had, what he gave, what he’s talking about, also where he is right now,” President Trump told reporters. If the anonymous author has a high-level security clearance, the president added, “and he goes into a high-level meeting concerning China or Russia or North Korea or something, I don’t want him in those meetings.” President Trump said that there is a national security imperative to root out the anonymous author, whom he called “a sick person.” He said Attorney General Jeff Sessions — who he has long criticized publicly in especially harsh terms — should use the investigative powers of the Justice Department to determine who authored the column. “I would say Jeff should be investigating who the author of that piece was because I really believe it’s national security,” President Trump said.