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Weekly Standard thinks op-ed author is Kudlow, Hassett, Coats or Pompeo
And Bill Kristol weighs in saying he thinks Hassett is most likely, but he'd add Nikki Haley's name to the list of suspects:
Link to tweet
https://www.weeklystandard.com/michael-warren/these-are-the-four-people-most-likely-to-be-behind-the-anonymous-new-york-times-op-ed-from-the-resistance-inside-the-trump-administration
As a way of establishing his credentials as a more traditionally Republican critic of Trump, the NYT author cites several positive developments of the administration, including “effective deregulation, historic tax reform, a more robust military, and more.” Kudlow, who served in the Reagan administration and has been around movement conservatism for decades, would conceivably find these Reagan-era policy goals the most worthy of praise.
Plus, there are some similarities between the piece’s language and Kudlow’s own writings. “The root of the problem is the president’s amorality,” writes the anonymous official. “Anyone who works with him knows he is not moored to any discernible first principles that guide his decision making.” Here’s what Kudlow wrote in his 1998 book: “If we stick with what I call first principles, which is morality and ethics, some spiritual guideline which was present at the creation with the founders . . . then this country is unstoppable.”
-snip-
The chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Hassett, like Kudlow, comes from the conservative media-policy world. He worked at the American Enterprise Institute for two decades, where he focused on fiscal policy, before coming to the White House last year. Another likely person to focus on the more traditional areas of deregulation, tax reform, and a strong military, Hassett also has a record of being pro-immigration. It’s notable that among the administration's "accomplishments" the op-ed does not mention is anything regarding immigration, a signature issue for the president.
Hassett is also a prolific op-ed writer who once wrote regularly for National Review Online and has written for several other publications, including the Times. And this mysterious essay, as Carlos Lozada notes, has the markings of a seasoned op-ed writer.
-snip-
The elder Hoosier statesman who serves as director of National Intelligence is at the end of a career in politics and government service. Coats would have little to lose professionally if he wrote the op-ed and was outed. And he might be motivated to speak out given the way President Trump spoke dismissively of him and the intelligence community after the summit with Vladimir Putin.
Coats was a conservative Republican in Congress who also has diplomatic experience as the ambassador to Germany. The op-ed writer’s focus on foreign policy suggests he may be someone with an interest in, and involvement with, the subject in the Trump White House. The more specific focus on the administration’s Russia policy suggests Coats, a critic of Putin while in the Senate, could be frustrated enough with moments like what the op-ed describes as Trump’s reluctance to expel Russian spies.
-snip-
Could the secretary of state, who is currently traveling in Pakistan, really write such a harsh assessment of the president he serves? Pompeo has been closer to Trump than most Cabinet officials, starting from his days as CIA director. And the former Kansas congressman is in the midst of guiding the president’s most important diplomatic efforts in North Korea and elsewhere.
As someone fond of, and thought fondly of, by CIA agents, Pompeo could be particularly irked by the suggestion by Trump and his supporters that a “deep state” is at work against the president. The correction of the internal resistance to Trump, the op-ed writer protests, is no “deep state. It’s the work of the steady state.”
-snip-
Plus, there are some similarities between the piece’s language and Kudlow’s own writings. “The root of the problem is the president’s amorality,” writes the anonymous official. “Anyone who works with him knows he is not moored to any discernible first principles that guide his decision making.” Here’s what Kudlow wrote in his 1998 book: “If we stick with what I call first principles, which is morality and ethics, some spiritual guideline which was present at the creation with the founders . . . then this country is unstoppable.”
-snip-
The chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Hassett, like Kudlow, comes from the conservative media-policy world. He worked at the American Enterprise Institute for two decades, where he focused on fiscal policy, before coming to the White House last year. Another likely person to focus on the more traditional areas of deregulation, tax reform, and a strong military, Hassett also has a record of being pro-immigration. It’s notable that among the administration's "accomplishments" the op-ed does not mention is anything regarding immigration, a signature issue for the president.
Hassett is also a prolific op-ed writer who once wrote regularly for National Review Online and has written for several other publications, including the Times. And this mysterious essay, as Carlos Lozada notes, has the markings of a seasoned op-ed writer.
-snip-
The elder Hoosier statesman who serves as director of National Intelligence is at the end of a career in politics and government service. Coats would have little to lose professionally if he wrote the op-ed and was outed. And he might be motivated to speak out given the way President Trump spoke dismissively of him and the intelligence community after the summit with Vladimir Putin.
Coats was a conservative Republican in Congress who also has diplomatic experience as the ambassador to Germany. The op-ed writer’s focus on foreign policy suggests he may be someone with an interest in, and involvement with, the subject in the Trump White House. The more specific focus on the administration’s Russia policy suggests Coats, a critic of Putin while in the Senate, could be frustrated enough with moments like what the op-ed describes as Trump’s reluctance to expel Russian spies.
-snip-
Could the secretary of state, who is currently traveling in Pakistan, really write such a harsh assessment of the president he serves? Pompeo has been closer to Trump than most Cabinet officials, starting from his days as CIA director. And the former Kansas congressman is in the midst of guiding the president’s most important diplomatic efforts in North Korea and elsewhere.
As someone fond of, and thought fondly of, by CIA agents, Pompeo could be particularly irked by the suggestion by Trump and his supporters that a “deep state” is at work against the president. The correction of the internal resistance to Trump, the op-ed writer protests, is no “deep state. It’s the work of the steady state.”
-snip-
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